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I III KING'S STATI CH 



THE 
JEWEL HOUSE 

An Account of the Many Romances 
Connected with the Royal Regalia 
Together with Sir Gilbert Talbot's 
Account of Colonel Blood's Plot 
Here reproduced for the first Time 

BY MAJOR-GENERAL 
SIR GEORGE YOUNGHUSBAND 

K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., C.B. 

KEEPER OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 
ILLUSTRATED IN COLOUR, ETC. 



NEW YORK 
GEORGE DORAN COMPANY 









The Mayflower Press. Plymouth. England. William B rend on & Son Ltd. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. The Jewel House 

II. The Regalia in the Tower . 

III. The Regalia (continued) 

IV. The Royal Plate 

V. The King's Ecclesiastical Plate 

VI. The Regal Emblems . 

VII. The Great Tragedy 

VIII. The Keepers of the Jewel House 

IX. Pomp and Circumstance 

X. The Romance of the Great Gems 

XI. The Crime of Colonel Blood 

XII. The Orders of Chivalry . 



PAGE 
II 

34 
5o 
61 

7i 
80 

9i 
109 : 
127 
143 
174 
191 



APPENDICES 

A. The Keepers of the Regalia from 1042-1920 . 221 

B. Letter from Queen Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII 224 
C Complete List of the Regalia in the Jewel 



House .... 
D. Sir Gilbert Talbot's MSS. . 

Index . . ... 



228 
232 

250 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



COLOURED PLATES 



The King's State Crown 
The Queen's State Crown 
The King's Orb 
The King's Royal Sceptre 



The Jewel House in Queen Elizabeth's Reign (double page) 

The Jewel House in 1 815 

The Jewel House in 1920 

The Imperial Indian Crown . 

The Diadem of Mary of Modena 

The King's Sceptre before and after the Introduction of the Star 
Africa ..... 

The Jewelled State Sword 

The Keeper of the Jewel House in his State Robes 

Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex 

The Black Prince with the famous Ruby 



Frontispiece 
To face page 
41 



The Duke of Wellington at the first cutting of 
Diamond ..... 

Portrait of Colonel Blood 

Colonel Blood stealing the Crown 

Facsimile of a Page from Sir Gilbert Talbot's MSS 

Facsimile of a Page from Sir Gilbert Talbot's MSS 



of 



the Koh-i-Nur 



47 
86 

16 

19 
22 
38 
40 

43 

83 

109 

116 

144 

158 
174 
181 
232 
233 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 



CHAPTER I 
THE JEWEL HOUSE 

When kings began to reign — The Crown of the King of the Ammon- 
ites — A Crown weighing 125 lbs. — The Treasure House of 
Kings — Egbert the first King of England — His regalia — King 
Alfred's Crown — Edward the Confessor's Crown and Staff and 
Ring — The Crown Jewels first placed in Westminster Abbey — 
Henry III removes them to the Tower of London — The Jewel 
Chamber in the White Tower — The Jewel House in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth — The Martin Tower turned into the Jewel 
House by Charles II — The word " Bolleyn " on the wall — 
Northumberland and Heriot prisoners there — A slender guard 
and the result — Colonel Blood fails in his attempt on the Crown 
— Northumberland's ghost — Narrow escape from fire of the 
Jewel House — Removal of Crown Jewels to the Wakefield 
Tower — Its former history — Origin of name — The murder of 
Henry VI in this tower — The young Princes buried in the base- 
ment — The lesson from St. Patrick's Jewels — King Edward VII 
makes the Jewels secure — The tantalized burglar — The German 
lady and the Kaiser's hopes — The Jewels in the Great War — 
Their narrow escapes — Their removal till the end of the War — 
Return to the Tower — Their wonderful adventures as recorded. 

WHEN Kings first began to reign on earth 
they wore on their heads and carried in 
their hands the emblems of royalty. 
To give them dignity, the seats they 
occupied were raised and glorified and became 

thrones. Thousands of years ago the crown became 

11 



12 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

the mark of sovereignty, for did not Saul fight his 
last battle wearing his crown, and with the bracelet 
on his arm ? Whilst the prophet Samuel in his 
book records that the crown of the King of the 
Ammonites, taken in battle by King David, was of 
pure gold, studded with precious stones. The 
prophet also commits himself so far as to add that 
this crown weighed one talent. Perhaps in this detail 
we may make allowance for Eastern hyperbole, 
a talent being equivalent to 125 lb., or the weight 
of two fair-sized portmanteaux. It is not reasonable 
to assume that even the most muscular King would 
with equanimity thus handicap himself whilst 
waging war. The throne of Solomon has become 
historic, made, we are told, of ivory overlaid with 
gold with a lion standing on each side, and twelve 
lions guarding the sides of each of the six steps that 
led up to it. As the value and number of kingly 
emblems increased, it became necessary to deposit 
them when not in use in a place of security strongly 
guarded, which came to be known as the Treasure 
House of the King. In ancient days it was not 
unusual to place the Regalia in some holy place, 
such as a church or cathedral, where the sanctity 
of the building was held to be an additional safeguard ; 
but more usually it would be kept with the King in 
his castle. 

Egbert, the first King of England, was crowned 
nearly eleven hundred yean ago, in a.d. 827, and 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 13 

King George V, the present King of England, is his 
direct descendant. The English monarchy is the 
oldest in Europe, and the English Royal Family had 
a longer pedigree than that of any European poten- 
tate, even before the Great War. The kingly emblems 
in King Egbert's days were few and of no great value, 
probably nothing more than a crown and a sceptre. 
The crown of King Alfred was made of gold wire, 
and was, when broken up and melted down by the 
Commonwealth, valued only at £238 10s. od. 
Edward the Confessor, besides a crown, had a staff 
or long sceptre, a replica of which is now amongst 
the Crown Jewels. He also had a Coronation ring 
set with a large and very fine sapphire, which same 
sapphire may be seen in the cross pate on top of 
King George V's State Crown. 

As the Crown Jewels increased in number and 
value, the King ceased to carry them about with him 
on all occasions, and they were handed over to the 
safe keeping of the Abbot and monks of West- 
minster. In Westminster Abbey can still be pointed 
out the Chapel of the Pix, where the regal emblems 
were kept. It is not improbable that Edward the 
Confessor inaugurated this manner of safeguarding 
the Regalia when not in use, and his successors for 
two hundred years followed his example. But 
though Westminster Abbey proved a sure sanctuary 
against robbers and marauders from the outer world, 
unfortunately within the sacred walls were those 



i 4 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

inured to sanctity, and who were by no means 
indisposed to profit in so obvious and mundane a 
matter as disposing of the Crown Jewels. Probably 
the Treasure Chamber was rarely inspected or 
visited, and as the monks themselves were the 
guardians, inconvenient inquiries might easily be 
disposed of, unless and until certain portions of the 
Regalia were required for the King's personal use. 
It was doubtless some such demand which led to 
the discovery that the Treasure Chamber had been 
broken into and some of the Regalia had disappeared. 
The chief regal emblems, such as the Crown and 
Sceptre, had been transferred to the Tower by 
Henry III, but the lesser yet very valuable pieces 
of plate were still at Westminster. The theft was 
brought home to a monk named Alexandre de 
Pershore, who had sold the plate to a travelling 
merchant named Richard de Podelicote. As a 
result the Abbot Wenlock and forty-eight monks 
were tried and sentenced to two years' imprisonment 
in the Tower. This was in the reign of Edward I, 
and as a result the King decided that Westminster 
Abbey was not altogether a safe place for any 
portion of so valuable a collection of plate and 
jewelry, and ordered it all to be transferred to the 
Tower oi London. An official Keeper of tl ilia, 

whose duty it waa to guard and have sole custody of 
the Jewels, had already hem appointed by Henry III, 

and henceforth a divided control ceased. 






THE JEWEL HOUSE 15 

From that day, some seven hundred years ago, 
the grey old walls of the Tower of London have been 
the outer casing of the casket which has contained 
the Crown Jewels of thirty-two Kings and Queens of 
England. The Jewels were probably first placed 
in the White Tower, that being the central keep of 
the Tower of London, itself then, and for many 
centuries after, the strongest fortress in England. 
On the north side of the crypt of St John's Chapel, 
which is in the White Tower, there is a small chamber 
with only one entrance and with no windows. This 
chamber, which some erroneous person for long 
marked as the cell of Sir Walter Raleigh, 1 would 
in those days have been an ideal place for the safe 
storage of the Regalia. It is not only an inner 
sanctuary, but also it was guarded without all 
round by Soldiers and by battlements. A monk 
might pilfer the plate, but he had to get it past the 
soldiers and out of the fortress to profit by his 
prowess. In this sanctuary, in the crypt of St. 
John's Chapel, the royal emblems and plate may 
well have remained for several reigns, and perhaps 
some centuries, but as the Regalia increased in 
quantity these restricted quarters would have been 
found too small to conveniently and suitably house 
them. Thus we find in an accurate survey of the 

1 It is very clear from all historical records that Sir Walter 
Raleigh was never imprisoned in the White Tower, so that a mis- 
guiding notice in the crypt might well be removed. 



16 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Tower of London, made in 1597, in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, that a special Jewel House had 
been built outside of and adjoining the south face 
of the White Tower. This Jewel House was a long 
low building with a flat, castellated roof, whilst at 
the western end was a tall turret. There were two 
entrances, one through the turret and one in the 
middle of the south wall. The building was evidently 
one of two storeys, as two tiers of windows are 
shown, with two lights on each floor. 

The Regalia remained in this Jewel House through 
the reigns of James I and Charles I, but with the 
tragic death of this last unhappy monarch the need 
for a Jewel House disappeared, for by orders of the 
Parliament all regal emblems were broken up, 
destroyed, or sold for what the}' would fetch. Un- 
used and uncared for, the old Jewel House fell into 
decay and disrepair, and became no longer a place 
of safe keeping. Thus when the Restoration came and 
Charles 11 ascended the throne of his forefathers, a 
new Treasure House had to be found. The place 
fixed upon was the Martin Tower, which forms the 
north-east bastion of the inner ballium wall of the 
Town ol London. Who Martin was, or why this 
tower was named after him, has escaped all re- 
but it is of interest to note that the 
Middle Tower was at one tune called the Martin 
Tower, and the inieivn. as to be that some 

well known personage who had long lived in the 



\ [rue in. I Exacl Draughi of the TOWER I.IBKRl'lKS.Hi 




f -i M ±: 



II v\ <»l I IIK rOWBH Of 

N I I IEN I 



no Year ifyQl by Gulielmz/s Hauvard and J.Gascoyne, 




OWING THE JEWEL HOUSE 
OF CHARLES II (i) ; IN I92O IN THE REIGN OF GEORGE V (s) 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 17 

Tower of London first occupied quarters in the 
Middle Tower and afterwards those in the Martin 
Tower, and that on his death from long association 
his name attached itself to his last residence. 

When Charles II came to the throne, all the regal 
emblems, such as the Crown, the Sceptre, and the 
Orb, had to be remade to replace those destroyed 
by the Commonwealth, whilst the royal plate had 
also to be renewed. Naturally, therefore, it took 
some time for the Regalia to arrive at its former 
excellence and value ; during the early years of 
the reign it could be easily housed, and was appar- 
ently not considered to be of sufficient importance 
to be guarded by soldiers. It was thus placed in 
the lower floor of the Martin Tower, which in 
former reigns had been used more frequently as a 
place of imprisonment for the more important or 
more affluent prisoners. Inscribed on one of the 
walls inside is the word " Bolleyn," which for long 
was held to be the mark of Queen Anne Boleyn, 
and as such held up as proof that the unhappy 
lady was imprisoned in the Martin Tower. But a 
closer examination of the records of those days 
shows conclusively that the Queen was never im- 
prisoned in that particular tower ; on the other 
hand, during this examination it became sufficiently 
clear that her brother, George Boleyn, Viscount 
Rochford, was probably a prisoner here, and the 
inscription may very possibly have been carved by 



18 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

him. Another mark of an old prisoner in the 
Martin Tower is the sundial on the south wall, 
ascribed to Heriot the astronomer, who together 
with Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, known 
as " Hotspur," was for long a prisoner here. 1 

The sole guardian of King Charles' new Crown 
Jewels in the Martin Tower, unaided by sentries or 
yeomen, was an old man named Talbot Edwards, 
then nearly eighty years of age, who was Assistant 
Keeper of the Jewel House under Sir Gilbert Talbot. 
Edwards and his family occupied the upper storeys 
of the Martin Tower, but Sir Gilbert Talbot lived 
chiefly at the Palace at Whitehall, it being one of 
his duties to reside always in whichever palace 
the King happened to be occupying from time to 
time. The chamber in which the Jewels were 
placed was semi-circular in shape with one door, 
and with very thick walls. In the outer or thickest 
wall was made, or already existed, a recess which, 
when a cross-wired door had been added, formed a 
cupboard, the front of which was open to view. 
This arrangement was made not only so that the 
Jewels might easily be inspected, but also because it 
was one of the perquisites of the Assistant Keeper 
to show the Crown Jewels to visitors for such : 
as he could inveigle out of them. There were no 
guards either of soldiers or yeomen on the Regalia ; 

1 Thii Henry Percy, "Hotspur," appeal ;cestor 

in the genealogy of the Younghusband family. 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 19 

which fact, becoming known to the notorious 
Colonel Blood, that worthy with two accomplices 
attempted to steal the Crown Jewels, as is recorded 
in due course. 1 

The attempt, though it very nearly succeeded, 
failed rather through good fortune than from any 
wise precaution. It, however, brought to notice 
the insecure manner in which the Regalia were kept, 
much as the theft of the St. Patrick's Jewels in 
Edward VIFs reign drew similar attention, and it 
was decided in due course to build a new Jewel 
House specially constructed to ensure security. The 
site chosen was just below the Martin Tower on its 
western side, between that tower and the then 
existing Armoury. This site was not an ideal one, 
so that quite early after its occupation reports 
were made that the new Jewel House was liable to 
be endangered by sparks from the chimneys or 
furnaces of the Armoury, which was only a few feet 
away. A guard of soldiers was now placed on the 
building, and yeomen warders were detailed, or 
hired by the Assistant Keeper, to aid him in his 
duties. The guard furnished a double sentry on 
this post, which was afterwards reduced to a single 
sentry. But this sentry declared that he nightly 
saw the ghost of the Earl of Northumberland 
walking up and down what is now known as 
Isorthumberland's walk, a narrow beat along the 

1 See Chapter XI. 



20 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

edge of the ramparts running each side of the Martin 
Tower. When one sentry had seen the ghost, 
others also were ready to declare that they also had 
seen it, so that as time went on and the superstition 
grew, the post became decidedly unpopular amongst 
the soldiers, whilst some even refused to go on it 
alone. The sentry was therefore again doubled, 
and the Earl and his midnight walks faded away 
into the mists of antiquity. 

As illustrating how persons who are determined to 
see ghosts may succeed in doing so, this is a very 
useful incident. This Henry Percy, Earl of Northum- 
berland, known as " Hotspur " from his fiery temper, 
who for thirteen years was imprisoned in the Martin 
Tower, lived there in ease and such comfort as 
wealth could in those days command, and eventually 
left under a salute from the great guns of the Tower, 
a guard of honour, and an escort to North amberland 
House, at the head of what is now Northumberland 
Avenue. There was no tragedy whatever about 
his long sojourn in the Tower. His father, however, 
another Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, 
was without doubt murdered in the Bloody Tower, 
so that if the Northumberland ghost had taken his 
nightly walks about the Bloody Tower there would 
have been some sensible connection. Evidently 
the ignorant soldiery ol" the day mixed up the two 
Earls of Northumberland, and imagined the wrong 
one nightly pacing the portion of the ramparts, 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 21 

which he had probably never even seen in his life- 
time, for the Martin Tower and the Bloody Tower 
are on opposite sides of the fortress and quite in- 
visible one from the other. 

Another ghost sworn to in the Martin Tower is 
that of Queen Anne Boleyn. A worthy warder a 
century or so ago under sworn testimony gave an 
account of how Anne Boleyn had appeared at supper- 
time, in the form of a bluish grey column, like smoke 
in a glass tube. How exactly the Queen was 
recognised in this disguise is not stated, but the 
main point is that Queen Anne Boleyn was never 
imprisoned in the Martin Tower. She went straight 
to the Lieutenants , Lodgings and from there to 
her execution. As has been already mentioned, 
however, her brother, George Boleyn, Viscount 
Rochf ord, was undoubtedly a prisoner in the Martin 
Tower, and on one of the inner walls is roughly 
engraved the name " Bolleyn." History and records 
and tradition doubtless became somewhat mixed 
as the centuries passed, so that warder after warder, 
on taking over these quarters, heard from his pre- 
decessor that the engraving had been made by 
Queen Anne Boleyn. A bowl of punch, and a 
lively imagination, would produce the rest of this 
ghost story. 

Inside the new Jewel House a strong cage was 
constructed, through the bars of which by light 
of dim lanterns the Crown Jewels could be seen at 



22 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

certain hours by those who had passes, and were 
prepared to pay a fee for the same. That the 
tremors of those who feared danger from fire 
were not unfounded eventually proved only too true. 
In 1843 the Armoury, which as mentioned was only 
a few feet from the Jewel House, caught fire and 
was burnt to the ground, placing the Crown Jewels 
in most imminent peril. That they escaped severe 
damage, if not destruction, was due to the great 
presence of mind, ready resource, and courage 
of a Sergeant, who broke into the Jewel 
House, and aided by yeomen bundled the precious 
articles without ceremony out on to the parade 
ground. Though thus hastily cast forth, and in spite 
of the crowd and confusion, nothing was lost or 
injured. It would be gratifying to be able to record 
that the hero of this adventure received some notable 
recognition of the service he had rendered. Truth, 
however, impels the confession that the deed was at 
the time eclipsed by the great tragedy of the burning 
clown of the ancient Armoury, a building several 
centuries old with many historic associations. Later, 
when this conspicuous service came to light, the 
ardour of recompense had grown cold. 

The next, and present, abode of the Crown 
Jewels became the Wakefield Tower, one of the lesser 
towers on the inner ballium wall, adjoining the 
Bloody Tower and Eating the Traitors' Gate. The 

in <>f the name has been a subject me 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 23 

discussion. For many years, indeed for some cen- 
turies, the Wakefield Tower was held to have been 
so named because the prisoners taken at the battle 
of Wakefield were therein imprisoned. But further 
examination shows that this tower was never 
used as a prison, nor could it have contained 
the number of prisoners supposed to have been 
incarcerated in it. Moreover, there is some evidence 
that the name was given to this tower long before 
the battle of Wakefield. A more reliable conclusion 
is that it was named after William de Wakefield, 
one of the King's Clerks, who was appointed to hold 
custody of the Exchanges in the Tower in 1344, 
and very possibly had his office in part of this 
building. 

In ancient days the Wakefield Tower, then 
named the Hall, formed the entrance to the 
Royal Palace, which fell into decay during the reign 
of Queen Elizabeth. She having been a prisoner in 
the Tower as a Princess, had conceived such a horror 
for the place that when she became Queen she 
refused to live there. In previous reigns the King 
or Queen always lived in the Tower before their 
Coronation, and thence proceeded in state, pre- 
ceded by the Knights of the Bath, to Westminster. 
In the Wakefield Tower is still a small chapel or 
oratory which was used as a private place of devo- 
tion by the Monarch when in residence at the 
Palace. In this little chapel, whilst kneeling at 



24 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

his prayers, Henry VI was murdered by Richard of 
Gloucester. 

A narrow, winding stair, some of the steps now so 
worn with age as to be hardly safe, leads down from 
the adjacent Bloody Tower to the basement. 
Down these steps the bodies of the two young 
Princes who were murdered there were dragged, and 
hastily buried in the basement of the Wakefield 
Tower. Here they lay for five days when Richard of 
Gloucester, by whose order they had been murdered, 
made the somewhat superfluous discovery that the 
bodies were not buried in consecrated ground. They 
were hastily dug up and buried close to the south 
wall of the White Tower, and being there more or 
less under the shadow of St. John's Chapel, were 
considered suitably interred. The Constable of the 
Tower, Sir Robert Brackenbury, was the only 
person who knew the secret, and he died with it, 
being shortly afterwards killed at the battle of 
Bosworth. It was not till the reign of Charles II 
that the remains of the two little Princes were 
accidentally found, and by order of the King re- 
moved to Westminster and buried there. 

The walls of the Wakefield Tower are eight feet 
thick, and there is only one entrance, whilst the 
windows are heavily barred. In these more or 
less practical days, however, reliance is not 
placed solely on solid walls, or even on sentries 
and yeomen, to keep the Crown Jewels in safety. 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 25 

After the St. Patrick's Jewels had been stolen 
in Dublin, King Edward VII determined that the 
Crown Jewels of England should be placed, as 
far as human prescience could devise, beyond the 
power of anyone to tamper with them. The most 
expert mechanical and scientific genuises, with 
Messrs. Chubb at their head, were called into con- 
sultation, and the result was the invention of the 
present octagonal-shaped steel casement furnished 
with steel bars. 

It is naturally not allowable to mention what 
the mechanical safeguards are, but the inexpert 
or indeed expert thief may certainly count on 
being guillotined or electrocutioned if he makes 
the attempt to emulate Colonel Blood's adven- 
ture. It has been a source of some amusement 
to the warders to watch known burglars — for admis- 
sion to view the Crown Jewels is open to all His 
Majesty's subjects, not excluding burglars — with their 
faces flattened against the bars thinking, thinking, 
thinking, how possibly they could get hold of these 
priceless gems. One indeed, with a deep resigned 
sigh, was heard to mutter, " Gor' blimy it ain't to 
be done ! " So we may hope for the best. Not only, 
however, are the Crown Jewels guarded by all the 
resources of science, but soldiers, yeomen warders, 
and policemen keep watch over them night and day. 

Just before the War, amongst other visitors was a 
German lady, who looked long at the Jewels and 



26 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

carefully examined the steel encasement in which 
they are exhibited. Then she went back to one of the 
yeomen on duty and remarked, " You may think 
those Jewels very wonderful and very wonderfully 
guarded, but do not be surprised if I say that they 
will soon belong to our Kaiser.' ' The yeoman was 
so taken aback that he did not know what to say, 
yet made perhaps a better reply than much fore- 
thought might have supplied. He said, " I don't 
think so, madam. Pass along, please." This old 
yeoman was in the Cameron Highlanders at the 
Relief of Lucknow. 

During the Great War the Germans in their 
first daylight raids made a special target of 
the Tower of London, clearly marked as it lay 
below on the banks of another clear landmark, 
the Thames. That their efforts to hit it were not 
more successful was a matter of bad luck for them 
and good for us, for we had then no anti-aircraft 
guns to drive them off. The first bomb just missed 
the Tower to the westward, and fell into the dry 
moat in the part used by the garrison as their drill 
ground. It penetrated six feet of gravel and rubble, 
deflecting at a slight angle as it went downward ; 
then it ran nearly level for four more feet, and 
finally turned upwards at an angle and traversed 
another eighteen inches. Happily it failed to explode. 
When with much caution it was dug out tail first 
it was found to measure 4.J ft. The top 22 in. 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 27 

formed an ordinary percussion shell, such as is fired 
by field artillery ; the rest of the bomb consisted of 
a brass cylinder filled with a yellow powder. This 
powder, though perhaps intended for purely incen- 
diary purposes, was doubtless intentionally also of a 
highly poisonous nature. So poisonous indeed was it 
that those who touched it were afflicted for months 
with a species of blood poisoning, which seriously 
affected their health and produced a painful and irrita- 
ting skin disease. Indeed, one official was thus affected 
who had not to his knowledge even touched the 
infected portions of one of these bombs ; he had 
merely stood close to where a wall was plastered 
with the yellow powder from an exploded bomb, 
whilst a strong wind happened to blow grains of it 
in his face. He came out with the same eruption, 
though in a less virulent form than the one who had 
actual man-handled a piece of the bomb. 

This bomb will probably be found in the Imperial 
War Museum, but it seemed to us that the gods 
intervened to get it there. When the bomb had been 
dug out urgent messages arrived by telephone and 
otherwise that no one was to meddle with the 
blamed thing (I am not sure of the exact wording) 
till an expert from the Ordnance Department arrived. 
Arrive he did, and how he ever departed, except in a 
ring of smoke and glory, puzzles us still. He took 
up the live shell, and directing everybody to stand 
well clear, a hundred yards or so away, for fear of 



28 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

accidents, he proceeded to unscrew the percussion 
fuze at the head of the bomb. This in itself is 
a delicate operation even for an expert. Appar- 
ently the head would not unscrew, but the expert 
nothing dismayed started hammering and forcing 
it in a manner which made mere amateurs tremble 
not only for the intrepid expert, but for the ancient 
walls of the Tower of London. Finally this philo- 
sophic warrior decided that unaided he could not un- 
screw the head, so he demanded that a taxi should be 
sent for. Into the taxi entered the gallant gunner 
and the bomb, and apparently they arrived safely 
somewhere, for in spite of the censorship, we should 
probably have heard if he had not. 

The second bomb again just missed the Tower, 
this time to the eastward. Most unfortunately, 
however, it hit the Royal mint, which stands just 
across the road. This bomb did the mint, as such, 
no harm worth mentioning, nothing to interfere 
with work being carried on as usual, but it so hap- 
pened that it fell close to where a goodly number 
of workmen, not actually working at the moment, 
were assembled, and caused forty-four casualti 
One small boy looking upwards was heard to say, 
" Why, it looks like a bird," and the next second 
he was himself up and out in the blue of heaven. 

The third bomb hit the railings to the north of 
the Tower, and whilst doing no harm whatever lo 

it caused some damage outside. A couple of horses 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 29 

drawing a van were killed, and many windows in 
Postern Row were broken. The effect was very 
much that of a shrapnel shell bursting, indeed there 
probably was a shrapnel fixed at the head of the 
bomb, as in the case of the first bomb mentioned. 
The bullets from this shrapnel shell had sufficient 
force to make clean round holes through stout iron 
railings, whilst naturally they went through windows 
and doors as through paper. Against the flimsiest 
walls they were of no avail, leaving only pit marks 
and knocking off plaster. 

The fourth bomb I chanced to see myself. I was 
sitting at my writing-desk, which is near one of the 
south windows of St. Thomas' Tower, and to be 
quite exact was writing a note to a lady thanking 
her for a book she had kindly sent me. There being 
a good deal of din in the skies, though little enough 
to one who was just back from the War, I happened 
to glance out on the river. At that exact moment, 
only a few yards away, something from the skies 
fell splosh into the river, and a column of water 
some six or seven feet high demonstrated the fact. 
That was the closest shot which the Germans made 
at the Crown Jewels of England. The total casual- 
ties to the credit of this attack on the Tower were 
one pigeon, which probably had a weak heart and 
died of shell-shock, and one pane of window broken 
in the Jewel House. 

After these narrow escapes it was decided that 



30 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

it would be wiser not to chance further risks, and to 
place the Regalia in a less exposed place than the 
Tower of London. Consequently the Jewel House 
was closed for repairs, so to speak, and the Crown 
Jewels were removed elsewhere. The wonderful 
stories evolved by the more emotional persons over 
this ordinary precaution were not without interest. 
One inspired person mentioned, that from certain 
information he had received a castle in Cornwall 
had been secretly acquired and that the Jewels 
had been taken there by special train at dead of 
night. He added that in front of the Jewel train, 
and behind it, were two other trains full of troops, 
police, detectives, machine-guns, and what not. 

Another very astute gentleman had secured the 
exclusive information, which he imparted with a 
knowing smile as between two conspirators, that 
for the past eight months a deep and secret vault 
lined throughout with concrete had been excavated 
at Bath, and that the Jewels were now safely de- 
posited there. The sole ground for this rumour 
rested on the undoubted fact that eight months 
before the Keeper of the Jewel House had boon at 
Bath, and there, by way of camouflage doubtk>s 
had undergone a course of the waters. Another 
equally knowing individual, a son of Israel, said that 
he knew for certain that the Jewels were in Cumber- 
land, the slender thread on which this rumour hung 
being due to the fact that the late Keeper of the Jewel 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 31 

House, Sir Arthur Wynne, had now settled in 
Cumberland. When these stories were told it was 
incumbent to smile in rather an embarrassed manner, 
as one found out in doing a fatuous thing, and the 
informants generally departed feeling like an em- 
bodiment of Fouche and Sherlock Holmes. It was 
only necessary to add, " Please do not mention your 
suspicions to anyone, it might get into the papers," 
to ensure that it got anyway as far as the Censor. 

But these rumours as to where the Jewels were, 
and how they got there, were nothing to the brilliant 
stories of their return, which an unfettered, an un- 
censored press could now make public. One of the 
more emotional ran : "At dead of night two 
officers of the Grenadier Guards dressed in frock 
coats and with silk hats, and each carrying an 
automatic pistol, drove up to the secret hiding-place 
in a closed motor-car. With them were two detec- 
tives also in civilian clothes but with bowler hats ; 
they too were armed with automatic pistols. Beside 
the military chauffeur, dressed in khaki sat another 
soldier with his loaded rifle at the ' present/ In a 
few seconds the Crown Jewels were transferred 
from the secret strong-room to the car by the two 
officers, whilst the detectives stood tensely at the 
alert, their pistols cocked. In a few minutes all 
was ready, and the car sharply wheeling on the 
gravel drive sped at the rate of forty miles an hour 
to the Tower of London/ ' 



32 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Which is all very nice and lurid, but as a 
matter of fact the whole process of taking the 
Jewels away and returning them to the Tower 
was much more simply accomplished and was 
not nearly so dramatic. It is now no longer a 
secret that a royal car drove into the Tower of 
London and up to the Jewel House. Into it the 
more important and valuable portions of the Regalia, 
already packed in their own cases, were handed. 
It was all a matter of a few minutes, and then the 
car drove away to Windsor Castle, and there 
deposited the Jewels in a secure place. The return 
journey at the end of the War was equally simply 
and effectively accomplished. Nor was there probably 
any officer of the Grenadier Guards, with or without 
a silk hat, nearer than the far dim horizon of Flanders. 
Naturally, however, the Crown Jewels do not travel 
without very careful precautions, and these, those 
who trembled for them may be assured, were 
fully taken. 

During their absence from the Tower some of the 
cases had somehow got rather damp and mildewy, 
the sight of which caused the Court Jewellers more 
than a little anguish. This dampness probably 
accounts for another brave story, to the effect that 
the Crown Jewels had been sunk in the river opposite 
the Tower, and had in this moist retreat been kept 
for many months. 

It is remarkable how wonderfully India some 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 33 

ambitious news collectors may become. Informa- 
tion regarding the location or movement of jewels 
of priceless value may be confided to all and sundry 
of the honest folks in these realms, but newspapers 
are bought not only by honest persons, and it is of 
considerable interest to a professional burglar or 
jewel thief to be informed exactly how and when 
he can best make a bid for so great a prize. 

Thus we see that throughout the centuries the 
Jewels have in turn been safeguarded first in 
Westminster Abbey, then in the White Tower, next 
in an annexe to the White Tower, after this in the 
Martin Tower, and then in a special building close 
to the Martin Tower. Finally, but for a brief 
sojourn at Windsor Castle during the Great War, 
in the Wakefield Tower. 



/ 



CHAPTER II 
THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 

The Crowns — St. Edward the Confessor's Crown, or the Crown of 
England — Original destroyed by the Commonwealth — A replica 
made for Charles II on his Restoration — The Cap of Maintenance 
— The King's State Crown — Made for Queen Victoria out of 
ancient stones — Historic gems set in it — Thousands of precious 
stones of all colours — The Imperial Crown of India — Made for 
George V when crowned Emperor of India — The reason for 
making this new crown — Cost ^60,000 — Contains 6000 precious 
stones — The Queen's Crowns — Crown of Mary of Modena — 
The diadem of Mary of Modena — Cost ^110,000 — Beautiful 
and simple though costly — Queen Mary's Crown — Set entirely 
with diamonds — The Koh-i-Nur, its chief glory — Two portions 
of the Star of Africa — The Prince of Wales' Crown as eldest son 
of the King — Coronet of the Prince of Wales at Carnarvon Castle 
— The King's Sceptre with the Star of Africa — The King's 
Sceptre with the Dove — The Queen's Sceptre with the Cross — 
The Queen's Sceptre with the Dove — The Queen's Ivory Rod — 
St. Edward's Staff— The King's Orb— The Queen's Orb. 

The Crowns 

THE most valuable and important portions 
of the Regalia, and those which appeal 
most to the eye and the imagination, 
are the Royal Crowns. Of these there 
are three which pertain to the reigning sovereign, 
whether a King or a Queen. Next there are two 
crowns and a diadem which pertain to the Queen 
Consort, when a King is on the throne. And lastly 

34 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 35 

there is the crown of the eldest son of the King, 
who is, if not by right yet at the King's pleasure, 
always created Prince of Wales. 
The three crowns of the Sovereign are : 
(i) St. Edward the Confessor's Crown, or the 
Crown of England. 

(2) The Imperial State Crown. 

(3) The Imperial Crown of India. 

The original crown of Edward the Confessor was 
destroyed by the Commonwealth, but on the restora- 
tion of Charles II a replica was made, and this is 
the crown now to be seen in the Jewel House, and 
is the one with which all the Kings and Queens of 
England have been crowned since 1661. It was 
made of " massie gold " and is of the shape known 
as royal in contradistinction to the form described 
as imperial. The shape of a Royal crown is familiar 
to all from childhood upwards, for it is the crown 
which stands on the shield supported by the lion 
and the unicorn in the arms of England. 

True, the older figure has become somewhat 
blurred to the younger generation, since Edward VII 
substituted an Imperial Crown for the older shape 
on many things, including the Royal mail and 
Royal note-paper. This was done of set purpose, 
being a sign and portent that the kingdom had 
grown into a world-wide empire, greater far and 
more rich and populous than any empire that had 
existed since the beginning of the world. But the 



36 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Crown of England retains its ancient shape. Round 
the band of this Crown are set at intervals great 
stones of different colours, red, and blue, and green, 
and yellow. Above the band stand alternately 
fleurs-de-lis and crosses patds, from these spring 
the two golden arches of the Crown, edged all the 
way with large pearls. These arches are the insignia 
of a ruling monarch ; without them the Crown would 
remain only a coronet. Where the two arches cross 
each other they are deeply depressed, and in the 
hollow thus formed stands a monde or globe of gold. 
On the monde is fixed a richly jewelled cross with 
large drop-shaped pearls, pendent from the arms. 
The weight of this Crown is nearly 5 lbs. 

Inside the Crown is the Cap of Maintenance of 
purple velvet, with an edging of minever to protect 
the King's head from too hard a contact with solid 
gold. The original Crown of England, of which, 
as has been mentioned, this is a copy, is said to 
have descended century after century from Edward 
the Confessor, who ascended the throne in 1042. 
The Vandals of the Commonwealth have much to 
answer for ! 

The King's State Crown is more beautiful, and 
intrinsically of immensely greater value than 
St. Edward's Crown. It is, however, as a crown 
comparatively modern, the custom being for each 
succeeding King or Queen to have their own State 
Crown made afresh. But the stones that are set in 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 37 

it, of which there are many thousands, are mostly of 
very great age, and have been used century after 
century to adorn the State Crowns of successive 
Kings and Queens. 

The State Crown now in the Tower was made for 
Queen Victoria, in 1839, an d with some alterations 
and additions has been so preserved by Edward VII 
and George V. Of the large jewels in it, such as the 
Black Prince's ruby, Queen Elizabeth's pearl earrings, 
the Stuart sapphire, the sapphire of Edward the 
Confessor, and the Star of South Africa, 1 historical 
records proclaim their origin. But the thousands of 
smaller stones carry with them their own age, for 
certain forms of cutting pertain to certain centuries. 
Thus the table-cut diamond is an older stone than 
the rose-cut, and the rose-cut is older than the 
brilliant. Inversely no brilliant in the present 
Crown could have been in that of Charles II, for 
this process of cutting was then unknown. 

The State Crown is of the Imperial, as distinguished 
from the Royal shape of the older crown ; thus the 
arches are not depressed where they cross each 
other, but slope up to the monde. In the band the 
two great stones are the Star of South Africa in 
front, and the Stuart sapphire exactly opposite it 
at the back. Between these, round the band at inter- 
vals are very large sapphires, rubies, and emeralds 
thickly encrusted with diamonds. Above the band 

1 See Chapter X. 



38 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

are alternate crosses pates and fleurs-de-lis in 
diamonds, in the centre of each being a large 
coloured gem. Indeed, the whole Crown is a complete 
mass of diamonds interspersed with coloured gems 
and pearls. Up the arches which spring from the 
crosses pates are clusters of diamonds formed to 
represent oak leaves with the acorns represented by 
large pearls. The device on the arches is commemora- 
tive of the oak of Boscobel, in which Charles II hid 
for his life when a fugitive. The Black Prince's 
ruby, which is as large as an egg, is set at the foot of 
the front arch. The monde is covered with a com- 
plete mass of diamonds so closely set as to leave 
no metal visible. On top of the monde is a large 
cross pate, also an entire mass of diamonds, and in 
the centre of it is set the magnificent sapphire which 
was once in the coronation ring of Edward the 
Confessor. Where the two arches cross may be seen 
pendent four very large pearls as large as small 
birds' eggs. These were Queen Elizabeth's earrings. 
Inside this Crown is a purple velvet Cap of Mainten- 
ance edged round the bottom with minever. This 
Crown weighs 39 oz. 5 dwts. 

The third Crown of the King is the Imperial 
Crown of India, made for George V when he was 
crowned Emperor of India in 1912. As mentioned 
elsewhere, the Crown of England is not allowed 
by ancient law to leave the shores of the British 
Isles; consequently this new Crown had to be made. 




THE IMPERIAL IMHAX CROWN 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 39 

The work was entrusted to the Court Jewellers, 
Messrs. Garrard, and a very fine example of the 
jeweller's art was the result. The Crown cost £60,000, 
and is adorned with some six thousand precious 
stones. These are mostly diamonds, but some very 
large and valuable coloured stones are also displayed. 
Notably a large cabuchon emerald in front of the 
band of the Crown, a very fine ruby in the front 
cross pate, and a very valuable emerald in the cross 
pate on top of the Crown. In shape the Crown ap- 
proaches nearer the Imperial shape as pictorially 
known. Instead of two arches as in the other crowns 
there are eight demi arches which incline upwards 
to support the monde instead of being depressed 
to receive it. These demi arches spring from the 
eight crosses pates and fleurs-de-lis, which stand 
on the band of the Crown. The monde, as well as 
all the crosses pates and fleurs-de-lis, are a mass of 
diamonds with a large coloured gem in the centre 
of each. Inside the Crown is the Cap of Maintenance 
of purple velvet bound at the bottom with minever. 

The Queen also has three crowns, or rather two 
crowns and a diadem. These are the crown first 
made for Mary of Modena, Queen of James II, a 
diadem made for the same Queen, and the present 
Queen Mary's State Crown. 

Queen Mary of Modem's Crown is small in size, 
and was made to be worn on top of the head and not 
to fit it. The general effect may be noticed on the 



40 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

statue of Queen Anne which stands outside St. 
Paul's Cathedral. Indeed, this is very probably 
a representation of identically this same crown. It 
is adorned entirely with diamonds and pearls, and 
has no coloured stones. Round the band is a con- 
tinuous succession of large-sized diamonds, and 
above these is a string of pearls each as large as a 
pea running completely round the circumference. 
Above the band alternately are crosses pates and 
fleurs-de-lis, also in diamonds. From the crosses 
pates spring the two arches of the crown ; these are 
adorned with rows of large pearls with diamonds 
on each side of the rows. At the point of crossing 
the arches are depressed, and on this depression 
rests the monde, a mass of small diamonds. On 
the monde is fixed a cross of diamonds with large 
pearls at the points. The Cap is of crimson velvet 
bordered at the bottom with minever. 

The diadem belonging to the same Queen, and 
said to have been given her by James II at a cost 
of £110,000, is of a beautiful and simple design. Not 
being a crown, it has no arches, and is in fact simply 
a broad gold circlet thickly encrusted with diamonds, 
the top edge being bordered by a row of large pearls 
touching each other all the way round. In front this 
row of pearls is slightly arched, and a large diamond 
is fixed in the apex. The diadem is fitted with a 
cap of crimson velvet bound at the bottom with 
minever. This diadem was worn by Mary of Modena 




DIADEM OK QUEEN MAKY OF MOIJENA, 
*\1 FK OF TAMES II 




I III QUI RN'S STATI CROWN. 

pr<nlu< • ■■: ) 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 41 

on the way to her Coronation, and during the 
ceremony it was replaced by the Crown, above 
described, which she wore as she returned to the 
Palace in State with the King. 

The most important and most beautiful of the 
Queen's crowns is that which belongs to Her present 
Majesty, for not only is it officially, but privately 
the property of Queen Mary, though three of the 
great diamonds in it may belong to the State. It 
was designed and made by Messrs. Garrard, and is 
certainly of great credit to twentieth century work- 
manship. The crown is set with diamonds through- 
out, no coloured stones having been used. In front 
of the band is one of the four large Stars of Africa, 
and round the band are alternate roses and crosses 
composed of diamonds. The rims of the band are 
also set continuously with small diamonds. On the 
band stand three fleurs-de-lis and three crosses pates 
alternately, all set with diamonds. In the centre of 
the front cross pate is the great and historic Koh-i- 
Nur diamond. 1 From the fleurs-de-lis and crosses 
pate spring six demi arches which slope gracefully 
upwards to support the monde. The monde is 
completely encrusted with small diamonds. On 
the monde stands a cross pate, in the centre of which 
is displayed another of the Stars of Africa, drop- 
shaped with the point downwards. Inside the 
Crown is a purple velvet cap lined at the bottom 

1 See p. 151. 



42 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

with minever. The Crown is of considerable size, 
made to fit the head instead of standing on it, as 
does the older Crown of Queen Mary of Modena. 

The Prince of Wales' Crown, as it is called, but 
more correctly the Crown of the eldest son of the 
King, is at the Tower. This is distinct from Prince of 
Wales' Coronet, which is kept at Carnarvon Castle. 
It is the King's prerogative to make whom he 
pleases Prince of Wales, but usually, as at present, 
the title is given to the eldest son. The Crown at 
the Tower is very simple and only differs in general 
appearance from the coronets of some members of 
the peerage in having one arch over it, supporting 
a gold monde and cross. Above the band stand 
alternately four gold fleurs-de-lis and four gold 
crosses pates. Inside is a crimson velvet cap 
edged at the bottom with minever. The eldest son 
of the King places this Crown on his own head 
during the Coronation service at the same time as 
the peers put on their coronets. On later occasions 
it is placed on a stool before the Prince when he 
attends at the House of Lords when the King opens 
Parliament in State. 

The Coronet of the Prince of Wales, as such, 
which as mentioned is kept at Carnarvon, is a more 
beautiful and graceful insignia. It consists of a 
circlet of gold adorned with pearls and ameth\ 
Above the circlet stand alternately four cn» 
pates and four fleurs-de-lis. These all are pierced 






THE i wi> \i l i k i in I NTH 

.»i nil ■: 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 43 

and within the outlines of the former are sprays of 
the Rose of England and of the latter the Daffodil 
of Wales. The daffodil with a certain amount of 
excusable heraldic elasticity, is introduced in place 
of the more homely though less picturesque leek, 
the hitherto best known emblem of the Little 
Sister. Between the crosses pates and the fleurs- 
de-lis are rosebud sprays. This Coronet was made 
throughout of Welsh gold, by Messrs. Garrard, in 
1911, for Edward, the present Prince of Wales. 

The Sceptres 

Next to the crowns in emblematic importance 
and kingly dignity come the sceptres. Of these 
there are in all five in the Jewel House, each with 
its special history and significance. The greatest 
and most important of these is the King's Royal 
Sceptre with the Cross. It is of gold, richly jewelled, 
about three feet long, and was made for Charles II, 
remaining practically the same till the reign of 
Edward VII. When the Stars of Africa 1 were 
presented to that monarch he decided to have the 
largest portion placed in the head of the Sceptre, 
but explicit orders were given that no part of the 
old Sceptre was to be removed, the diamond was 
merely to be inserted. This proved a very difficult 
problem, but was successfully solved by Messrs. 
Garrard, as a comparison of drawings of the Sceptre 

1 See p. 162. 



44 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

before and after clearly show. As seen now, the 
Star of Africa is the central attraction, not only 
from its huge size, but its extraordinary brilliancy. 
It is drop-shaped, 2iV in. in length and i\i in. in width, 
and weighs 516J carats. It is held in place by four 
very ingeniously contrived gold clasps, which can 
be opened and the diamond taken out when required 
to be worn as a pendant. Above the diamond on 
enamelled scrolls stands the great amethyst orb 
which is faceted all over, and has round the centre 
a jewelled band with an arch of gold, rubies, and 
diamonds. On top of the amethyst orb is fixed the 
Cross, made entirely of diamonds with a large 
emerald in the centre. These all form the head of 
the Sceptre. 

Below the great diamond the fleur-de-lis of the 
old Sceptre has been cleverly depressed into the form 
of a support; this is thickly jewelled with coloured 
gems and diamonds, and below this again is a jewelled 
band. Near the hilt of the Sceptre is a smooth 
portion for the grip ; above this is a collar of gems 
and enamels, and below another similar collar 
having rich sprays of gold and enamels, thickly 
jewelled with coloured stones and diamonds. At 
the butt is a sphere encrusted with enamels and 
precious stones. When the King holds this Sceptre, 
he may veritably be said to have in his hand a 
King's ransom. 

The King's Sceptre with the Dove comes next in 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 45 

importance. It is a rod of gold three feet seven inches 
in length. At the top is a monde or orb of gold with 
a fillet round the centre studded with diamonds, 
and with an arch above similarly jewelled. From 
the top of the monde rises a golden cross, on which 
is • sitting a white enamelled dove with extended 
wings, its eyes, beak, and feet of gold. Below the 
monde is a band studded with diamonds, and beneath 
this another band with drooping designs, ornamented 
with coloured gems and diamonds. In the centre of 
the Sceptre is an ornamental band of enamels and 
gems, and gold open-work with coloured gems, 
enamels, and diamonds. Nearer to the bottom of the 
Sceptre is another band with large jewels. The 
boss at the foot of the Sceptre is encircled by two 
bands, one jewelled and the other enamelled. 
The Dove is symbolical of the Holy Ghost. This 
Sceptre is borne in the sovereign's left hand during 
one portion of the ceremony at the Coronation. 

Next we have the Queen's Sceptre with the Cross 
which was originally made for Queen Mary of 
Modena. It is made of gold ornamented with 
diamonds, and is two feet ten inches in length. At 
the top is a double fleur-de-lis thickly set with fair- 
sized diamonds. Above this is a golden monde, 
round which is a fillet thickly adorned with diamonds, 
the arch over the monde being similarly decorated. 
On the monde stands a cross which has a large dia- 
mond on each of its arms and one in the centre. The 



46 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

middle of the Sceptre is ornamented with sprays 
formed of open-work in gold, with leaves and flowers 
composed of large and small diamonds. The Sceptre 
ends with an elaborately jewelled boss. 

The Queen's Sceptre with the Dove resembles that 
of the King, but is rather smaller and is differently 
ornamented. Thus the fillet encircling the monde 
and the arch over it are ornamented with coloured 
gems as well as diamonds, and with leaves enamelled 
red and white. At the middle of the Sceptre is a 
collar of dark blue enamel, ornamented with gems 
and designs in white enamel. Near the foot is another 
more elaborate collar with sprays of open-work in 
gold, ornamented thickly with gems and enamels. 
At the foot is a boss with ornaments of gold, gems, and 
enamels. This sceptre was lost for many years, 
but was eventually found, in 1814, hidden at the 
back of a shelf in the Jewel House. 

The Queen's Ivory Rod was destroyed by the 
Commonwealth, but a replica of it was made for 
Queen Mary of Modena, and this is now in the Jewel 
House. This Rod or Sceptre also has a dove on top 
of it, but with closed wings. It stands on a gold 
cross which in its turn rises from a gold monde. 
The dove has golden eyes, beak, and feet. The Rod, 
which, as its name implies, is made of ivory, is in 
three pieces, with collars of gold at the joining 
points. Its total length is three feet one and a half 
inches. The boss at the bottom is very similar to 







«uh t 1 



I Ml KING'S ORB. 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 47 

the monde at the top, and both are ornamented with 
champleve enamels. 

St. Edward's Staff, known also from very early 
days as the Rod of Justice and Equity, is a replica 
made for Charles II of the ancient staff destroyed 
by the Commonwealth. It is much longer than 
any of the sceptres, being four feet seven and a half 
inches in length, and being intended to be used as 
a walking staff, is shod with a spike of steel like an 
alpine-stock. It is made of plain bright gold, and 
at the top has a gold monde surmounted by a gold 
cross. In the monde of the original Staff was a 
piece of the true cross. This Staff is emblematically 
intended to guide the King's footsteps in the way 
he should go. 

The Orbs 

There are two Orbs in the Jewel House, one for 
the King and the other for the Queen. The orb is a 
very ancient Christian emblem, and signifies the 
domination of the Christian religion over the world. 
It may be described as a globe of gold on which 
stands a cross. The King's Orb, which is known as 
the Orb of England, is a very valuable and richly 
gemmed emblem, and is only placed in the hand of 
the King or Queen who is actual sovereign of the 
realm. The Queen's Orb, which is of somewhat less 
importance and value, and smaller in size, is the 
insignia of a Queen Consort. 

The King's Orb is a golden globe six inches in 



48 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

diameter, round the centre of which is a fillet of 
gold outlined with fine pearls and ornamented with 
clusters of gems, the gems being set in borders of 
white and red enamel. The centre stones of these 
clusters are large rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, 
each surrounded by diamonds. Over the top of the 
Orb is an arch of similar design and similarly 
jewelled. Standing on the Orb is a large amethyst 
on which is fixed the cross. The amethyst is of 
remarkable size and beauty, one and a half inches 
in height and faceted all over. The cross is a very 
beautiful one, and has in the centre on one side an 
emerald and on the other a sapphire, each surrounded 
with diamonds. The outlines of tha cross are marked 
by rows of diamonds, and there are three large 
diamonds along the centre of each arm. At the foot 
of the cross, where it rests on the great amethyst, 
is a collar of diamonds. At the ends of each of the 
arms is a large pearl, and in each of the four inner 
corners is also a large pearl. This Orb was made for 
Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner to replace an older 
orb destroyed by the Commonwealth. 

The Queen's Orb owes its origin to Mary, wife of 
William of Orange. By right of succession, Mary 
was Queen of England, and William her Consort, 
but she insisted on a joint occupation of the throne. 
Thus it came about that William III was crowned 
King of England and took the King's Orb in his 
hand, whilst a smaller replica was made for Queen 



THE REGALIA IN THE TOWER 49 

Mary. Though in general appearance they are much 
alike, the Queen's Orb is not so important or hand- 
some as that of the King. The globe is of polished 
gold, and round it is a fillet outlined with large 
pearls and studded with rubies, sapphires, and emer- 
alds. These coloured stones are alternately circular 
and octagonal, and are set in collars of gold. The 
arch over the Orb is ornamented in a similar manner. 
The cross, which stands on top, is studded with 
rubies, sapphires, and diamonds, differently ar- 
ranged on either side. 



CHAPTER III 
THE REGALIA — continued 

The Jewelled State Sword — The most valuable in the world — 
The emerald worth £2 700 — The sword described — The King offers 
it to the Church and redeems it for 100 shillings — The sword 
lost and found — -The Sword of State — Carried before the King — 
The sword described — The three swords of Henry VII I — 
" Defender of the Faith" — The Sword Spiritual — The Sword 
Temporal — " Curtana," or the Sword of Mercy — St. George's 
golden spurs — The Bracelets — Bracelets worn by King Saul as 
well as Babylonian and Assyrian monarchs — The Coronation 
rings — The King's ring — The Queen's ring — Queen Victoria's 
ring — Charles II's Coronation ring — Coronation ring of Edward 
the Confessor — James II's monde — Model of the Koh-i-Nur 
— Model of the Cullinan Diamond — Chisel and hammer. 

THE Jewelled State Sword is the most 
beautiful and valuable sword in the 
world. To illustrate its value it may be 
mentioned that one stone alone, a square 
emerald set at cross of the hilt, is worth at least 
£2700, and this is only one of scores of precious 
stones which adorn this Sword. The grip is one 
mass of diamonds, which give so brilliant an effect 
that the beautiful designs are almost lost to sight ; 
these are, however, when looked closely into, oak 
leaves and acorns. These may be, as in the State 
Crown, emblematic of Charles II and his oak tree, 

50 



THE REGALIA 51 

though perhaps, and more prophetically, an emblem 
of old England : the mighty oak that built her 
ships, and through them made her what she is in 
this year of grace. 

At the head of the hilt of the Sword is a large 
and very valuable diamond, which has on its four 
sides four large rubies, and below these two rows 
of large emeralds and diamonds. The " quillions," 
as the cross-piece between the hilt and the blade 
is called, is encrusted with a mass of small diamonds, 
so thickly set that the gold beneath is scarcely 
visible. At the extremities of the quillions are 
lions' heads beautifully modelled and also formed 
entirely of small diamonds set close together. 

The blade of the Sword is of Damascus steel of 
the very finest temper, and is in itself of great 
value. The scabbard is of dull gold ornamented 
throughout its length with jewels, both large and 
small. At the upper end is a cross formed of a 
sapphire, a ruby, two diamonds, and a yellow 
sapphire ; this latter a rare and valuable stone- 
This rich cross is enclosed with laurel sprays of 
diamonds. Looking down the scabbard we see 
first the Rose of England, portrayed by a ruby 
set thickly round with diamonds. Then comes the 
Thistle of Scotland, fashioned out of rubies, 
emeralds, and diamonds ; and next the Shamrock 
of Ireland, appropriately formed of emeralds alone. 
These three devices are thrice repeated as the 



52 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

scabbard fines away to a point. Between the 
devices are crossed golden sprays of laurel and 
palm leaves. On the u chape " or butt end of the 
scabbard appear again oak leaves and acorns formed 
of small diamonds. At the extreme tip is a large 
and very beautiful turquoise, oblong in shape, and 
set around with diamonds. 

Naturally a sword of this magnificence is meant 
more for display on State occasions than for use on 
the field of battle ; indeed, from a swordsman's 
point of view, it would be quite impossible to firmly 
grip a hilt made of diamonds and other angularly 
cut stones. The scabbard and jewels are not 
ancient, whatever the history of the blade may be, 
having been made for the Coronation of George IV, 
just one hundred years ago. Since that reign this 
has been the Sword which the King at his Coronation 
hands to the Archbishop of Canterbury as symbolis- 
ing that he places his Sword at the service of the 
Church. Happily for the financial stability of the 
empire, it is arranged between Church and State 
that after each Coronation the Keeper of the Jewel 
House is empowered to redeem the said Sword 
by paying to the Archbishop the apparently in- 
adequate recompense of ioo shillings. 

The Sword was rarely used except at coronations, 
and not being carefully guarded as it now is, got lost 
or mislaid in the reign of Queen Victoria, possibly 
because a queen has no use for a sword. For some 



THE REGALIA 53 

decades this priceless weapon disappeared entirely, 
and then was only accidentally found at the back 
of an old disused cupboard. How truly British, 
both friends and semi-friends, will alike exclaim ! 
Doubtless numbers of people had seen the box 
containing it, but as this box closely resembles an 
ordinary gun case, it was probably taken for one 
and left undisturbed. In this box, which looks like 
a gun case, are the emplacements for two swords. 
One is for the Jewelled Sword, but what lay in the 
other is not recorded — possibly a less ornate weapon 
for the King's ordinary use when in uniform. This 
latter has disappeared probably amongst the cast-off 
accoutrements of some bygone monarch. 

The Sword of State which is carried before the 
King at the opening of Parliament is quite a different 
weapon. It is a long, two-handed sword, with a 
gold hilt and quillion, and is encased in a crimson 
velvet scabbard. The length of the blade alone is 
32 in., and the breadth of the same about 2 in. 
This is the Sword with which the King knighted 
the Prince of Wales when he was created a Knight 
of the Garter. The quillion of the sword is formed 
of an elongated lion on one side, and a similarly 
maltreated unicorn on the other. On the hilt are 
raised representations of a portcullis, a fleur-de-lis, 
and a harp. On the pommel are a thistle, an orb, 
and other emblems. Down the scabbard are various 
designs in gold, such as portcullis, the lion standing 



54 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

on a crown, orb, and cross. Then more conspicu- 
ously the Royal arms of England, the double Tudor 
rose, the thistle of Scotland, the harp of Ireland, 
and the fleur-de-lis of France. 

The remaining three swords in the Jewel House 
are of a set, and were sent to Henry VIII by the 
Pope as Defender of the Faith. Henry VIII, as 
we know, disagreed with the Pope over his first 
matrimonial venture, and throwing His Holiness 
overboard, so to speak, made himself sole head of 
the Church of England. This bold deed, though 
based on a personal matter, was the foundation of 
England's greatness. The swords the King retained, 
as also the title, which is still born by English 
sovereigns, and appears on their coins to this day : 
" Georgius V. D.G. Britt : Omn : Rex. F.D. 
Ind. Imp : M . These three swords are named the 
Sword Spiritual, the Sword Temporal, and M Cur- 
tana/' or the Sword of Mercy. They are long, 
straight swords with broad blades of exactly similar 
pattern, but there is one curious difference between 
Curtana and the other two, for the blade of this 
sword has had about six inches of blade broken 
off, leaving a blunt point. This break and shorten- 
ing are intended to portray the element of Mercy. 

The Golden Spurs, known as St. George's Spurs, 
which are one of the King's military emblems now 
to be seen in the Tower, were made for Charles II 
by Sir Robert Vyner, and were copied from the 



THE REGALIA 55 

pair that existed in former ages, and which were 
sold or melted down by the Commonwealth. They 
are of the pattern known as " prick " spurs, for 
instead of rowels they have one sharp point. The 
straps are of crimson velvet embroidered in gold. 

Bracelets have long been a regal emblem, being 
old even when Saul, King of Israel, was slain and 
the Amalekite brought his crown and bracelet to 
King David. The Babylonian and Assyrian mon- 
archs wore bracelets as one of the insignia of royalty, 
whilst at the present day the Shah is the only male 
person in Persia who has a right to wear a bracelet. 
What may be the exact significance of the bracelet 
is not clear ; it may have none, and may in the 
course of ages have become by usage one of the 
insignia of a reigning monarch. The bracelets at 
present in the Jewel House were made by Sir 
Robert Vyner for Charles II from some ancient 
design, and are of solid gold. On them are enamelled 
designs representing the emblems of the three 
kingdoms, as well as the fleur-de-lis of France. 
They are lined with crimson velvet. 

A recent addition to the Crown Jewels in the 
Tower are the Coronation Rings. These are the 
private property of their Majesties, who with their 
usual gracious forethought have sent them to the 
Tower so that all their subjects may see them. 
The Coronation Rings are three in number : the 
King's Ring, the Queen's Ring, and a special ring 



56 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

made for Queen Victoria and presented to her by 
her uncle, William IV. 

The King's Ring is not ancient, dating only to 
the reign of William IV, and is of a magnificence 
that makes it unsuitable for daily wear even by a 
king in these days. In the centre is a very large 
and valuable sapphire which could not now be 
bought for £1000. Lying over this, in the form of 
a cross, are four long, narrow rubies. Round the 
whole is a circle of diamonds. The general design 
is to represent the Cross of St. George on a blue 
shield, as it is in insignia of the Order of the 
Garter. 

The Queen's Ring is not so large or ambitious, 
and might be worn without being unduly pro- 
nounced on ordinary occasions. In the centre is a 
large rectangular ruby set around with diamonds. 
The ruby is one of remarkable beauty and con- 
siderable value. 

The third ring at the Jewel House is a small 
replica of the King's Ring, and was bequeathed by 
William IV to the then Heir-Apparent to the 
throne, the Princess Victoria. A kindly thought 
on the part of the old King, knowing that a very 
large man's ring would not be suitable for a young 
girl-queen. Unfortunately the jeweller was too 
much of a courtier, and made the ring so small that 
it caused Queen Victoria intense agony. The 
sapphire in this ring, though smaller, is so perfect as 



THE REGALIA 57 

to be in value equal to the larger stone in the King's 
Ring. 

A much older Coronation ring than any of these 
is probably in existence. It belonged to Charles II, 
and was amongst the Stuart relics bequeathed to 
George III by Cardinal York. Where it is, or who 
owns it, is not known, for it must be remembered 
that these Coronation rings are the private property 
of each Sovereign and are at their disposal. It was 
therefore open to George III to give or bequeath 
it to whom he pleased. 

Older far than any of these is the sapphire now 
in the cross pate on the summit of the King's State 
Crown, which was in the Coronation ring of Edward 
the Confessor nearly 900 years ago. Perchance 
some future King will transpose the two sapphires 
as a matter of sentiment, replacing Edward the 
Confessor's sapphire in the Coronation ring and 
transferring the sapphire now in that ring to the 
cross pate. 

A typical example of the depredations to which 
the Crown Jewels were subject in less guarded days 
is shown in the Jewel House. This is a jewel which 
passed for long as a magnificent faceted aquamarine, 
in the shape of a monde or globe surmounted by a 
diamond cross, which figured first on top of the 
Crown of King James II. Many historians mention 
this stone with speechless admiration. Yet when 
a more critical age came to examine *this precious 



58 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

stone, it was found to be nothing more valuable 
than a ball of coloured glass ! Naturally when 
this discovery was made the ornament lost its 
place of honour on top of the King's Crown, and is 
now shown only as a curiosity. Whether the 
original aquamarine i had been disposed of by 
James II before his flight or sold in some long 
past reign by order of the King, or whether owing 
to slack guardianship it was removed through the 
connivance of the guardians and replaced by a 
worthless imitation, history does not relate. At 
any rate, an expert goldsmith and jeweller must 
have been in the secret for the making of an exact 
replica, and must have required prolonged possession 
of the model to work from. Probably, too, when 
the substitution was first discovered nobody cared 
to say much about it lest they themselves should be 
suspected of theft, or at least accused of criminal 
carelessness in its custody. 

Amongst the Jewels may be seen a model of the 
Koh-i-Nur diamond as it was before being cut into 
the form of a brilliant. It was at that period set in 
an armlet with two lesser diamonds on either side, 
and could either thus be worn, or alternatively as an 
ornament in the turban, by the Eastern potentate 
who then owned the great diamond. This model is 
set in the original setting of gold, richly enamelled. 
The crimson silk cords ending in tassels of pearls 
and rubies, with which the armlet was furnished, 



THE REGALIA 59 

are also shown in original. This model shows the 
curious conical shape the diamond then had from 
which its name, " The Mountain of Light," was 
derived. A looking-glass set behind it enables one 
to see the beautiful enamels at the back of the 
setting. 

Another model of great interest is that of the 
Cullinan diamond or the Star of Africa, exactly 
showing its size and appearance when first found. 
It is difficult to imagine a diamond of this size and 
appearance until we actually see the model. It 
will be found described amongst the greater gems 
in another place. 

The Star of Africa was, it will be remembered, 
cut into four great portions, whilst numerous small 
pieces also resulted. This operation was performed 
at Amsterdam by the famous diamond-cutters, 
Messrs. Coster. The hammer and chisel with which 
this delicate operation was performed are kept in 
the Jewel House, and are most unlikely-looking 
instruments. The chisel is in the shape of a deep 
man's comb without a handle, and is more like a 
wedge than a chisel, as generally understood. It is 
of hardened steel, yet not so hard but that it shows 
the marks where it struck the diamond. The 
hammer is equally unconventional, being a solid 
steel cylinder, like a short rod or truncheon. Ap- 
parently only three or four sharp blows opposite 
the natural cleavages were sufficient to break up 



60 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

the great rough stone into the four great Stars of 
Africa. 

It is difficult by word of mouth, or with the pen, 
or even by illustrations, to give an adequate idea 
of the splendour and brilliancy of the Crown Jewels. 
They have to be seen to be adequately appreciated. 
This by the gracious permission of His Majesty the 
King it is possible for all, rich or poor, to achieve by 
visiting the Jewel House at the Tower of London. 
The poor can see them without toll or fee on what 
are known as " free days," whilst the rich need 
only spend sixpence for the same privilege on 
" paying days." If these chapters in any way help 
to give an added interest to their visit they will 
have amply achieved their object. 



CHAPTER IV 
THE ROYAL PLATE 

Plate for the Royal table — Plate for the King's Chapel — Trumpets 
and maces — Queen Elizabeth's gold salt cellar — Escapes the 
Commonwealth — The design of the salt cellar — The State 
salt of Charles II — Presented by the City of Exeter — A jewelled 
castle armed with golden guns — Charles II 's wine fountain — 
Presented by the Borough of Plymouth — The finest specimen 
of plate in the Jewel House — Not only ornamental, but useful 
to His Majesty — The ordeal of the lady on top — The eleven St. 
George's Salts — Curious history of a set of four — A correspond- 
ence that lasted ninety- two years — The ordeal of the serpents — 
St. George on the canopy of the great salts — The salt spoons — 
Two golden tankards — To be viewed from a discreet distance — 
The silver trumpets — Used at Coronations — And when Peace is 
Proclaimed — Crimson and gold bannerets — The Archbishop's old 
time exhortation — The maces of the sergeants-at-arms — Charles 
II, James II, William and Mary, George I — The mace originally a 
bludgeon — The crown at head of it the insignia of Royal authority 
— The policeman's truncheon a miniature mace — The maces 
at the Proclamation of Peace — The mace-bearers originally 
a corps of knights — Bodyguard of the King. 

THE Royal Plate in the Jewel House may 
be roughly divided into two main cate- 
gories, the one being plate for the Royal 
table and dignity, and the other ecclesias- 
tical plate for use at Coronations or at services in 
one of His Majesty's Chapels Royal. The table 

61 



62 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

plate consists mostly of large gold salt cellars, 
known as Salts of State, whilst the kingly dignity 
is represented by the great gold maces borne by 
the sergeants-at-arms, and the silver trumpets 
which sound a fanfare when the king is crowned. 

The oldest piece of table plate in the Jewel House 
is Queen Elizabeth's gold salt cellar. How this 
escaped the depredations of the Commonwealth, or 
how it avoided being melted down with other 
Royal plate, to meet the necessities of Charles I, 
history does not relate. Very possibly it was 
sold in those days, and preserved by the pur- 
chaser through the troublous times, and then 
either given back, or sold back, to the Crown on 
the Restoration. 

The salt cellar, which is a very fine specimen of 
Elizabethan work, stands about a foot in height ; 
at the top is a shallow pan in which the salt was 
placed, over which is a gold canopy supported on 
brackets. The object of canopies such as this 
apparently was to keep the larger and more obtru- 
sive pieces of dirt and dust from the rough rafters 
overhead, from falling into the salt. Salt was a 
precious thing in those days, and as carefully to be 
protected as would pdte de foie gras in these times. 
On top of the canopy stands a knight in armour 
holding a long two-handed sword and a shield. 
He also is manifestly guarding the salt from theft 
and danger. 



THE ROYAL PLATE 63 

With the exception of this one piece, none of the 
gold table plate in the Jewel House dates further 
back than the reign of Charles II, and this for good 
and sufficient reasons, as we have seen. To renew 
the Royal Plate at the Restoration several contribu- 
tions were made, and the chiefest of these by the 
loyal county of Devon. The city of Exeter presented 
His Majesty with a magnificent golden State salt 
cellar, fashioned like a castle ; and the Borough of 
Plymouth came forward with one of the handsomest 
pieces of gold plate in existence, a beautiful wine 
fountain. 

The State salt cellar stands nearly two feet high, 
and is a most elaborate and beautifully worked out 
representation of a square castle prepared for defence 
as it would be in medieval days. At each corner 
are turrets for flank defence, and cannons and guns 
bristle from every wall. On the top is a cupolo 
shaped like a Royal crown, and under this may be 
seen exquisitely fashioned field-guns on wheels. 
The castle is adorned throughout with precious 
stones, one specially large sapphire being observable 
above the portcullis at the front entrance. Some 
historians think it was intended to represent the 
White Tower, which is the keep of the Tower of 
London, but as many castles in those days were 
more or less of this design, and amongst them 
Exeter Castle, it seems more probable that the design 
was taken from that city. 



64 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The tops of the four turrets as well as the crown 
left off and disclosed shallow pans or saucers each 
capable of holding a small quantity of precious salt. 
There are also small troughs under the windows 
also intended each to hold a little salt. Probably 
nobody but the King and Queen and three or four 
distinguished guests seated near were intended to 
take salt from the State salt cellar, its place being 
in the centre of the great banqueting table exactly 
opposite the King. 

The wine fountain, besides being an exceedingly 
fine example of the goldsmith's art, must have been 
a very acceptable and appropriate present for the 
jovial King to receive. The fountain stands two 
and a half feet high, the central figure being a lady 
very lightly clad, holding a snake by the neck. 
Below the lady are two tiers of shallow receptacles 
shaped like shells and ornamented with mermaids, 
dolphins, and sea nymphs. The lower, and larger 
tier, measures 28 in. in diameter. When in use the 
fountain could be made to play as does a water- 
fountain in the garden. The procedure would be to 
place a barrel of wine in the gallery : from this a 
pipe would run which could be fixed to the hollow 
at the base of the fountain. Wlien the tap was 
turned on the wine would run up inside the lady and 
out presumedly through the serpent's mouth. The 
height of spray would depend on the height of the 
barrel above the table. The wine as it fell in spray 



THE ROYAL PLATE 65 

would drip down the lady, which impending deluge 
doubtless accounts for her lack of garments ; thence 
it would flow into the tier of smaller receptacles. 
As these filled up they would overflow into the 
larger receptacles below, and when these in their 
turn were filled to overflowing, the only way to pre- 
vent a flood, and a devastating waste of good wine, 
was for the company to continuously dip their 
beakers into them and thus stem the tide by steadily 
drinking the contents. 

There are eleven other great gold salt cellars 
amongst the Royal plate at the Tower dating from 
the reign of Charles II, which used to help in deco- 
rating the tables at Coronation banquets. These are 
all known as St. George's Salts and are of several 
patterns. 

A curious story attaches to one set of four of these 
salt cellars. They are cylindrical in shape, rather 
like a deep drum, and embossed with sprays of leaves 
and flowers in high relief. At the top are three 
brackets curving outwards fashioned as serpents. 
When the Royal plate was being overhauled for the 
Coronation of George IV, some bright expert 
decided that the brackets were not brackets, but 
legs, and turned the salts over and stood them on 
these. He was then faced by an aching void which 
would hold a couple of pounds of salt, for the cylin- 
ders are hollow. Naught dismayed, he had shallow 
gold pans to hold salt made to fit the cylinders, 



66 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

and on these were engraved the Royal arms and the 
words " George IV." Thus upside down the salts 
remained for ninety-two years, the serpents standing 
on their heads, and the herbaceous ornamentation 
drooping sadly. During those ninety-two years an 
animated correspondence appears to have been 
carried on as to which end upwards the salts should 
rightly stand, and it was only in the time of the 
present Keeper of the Jewel House that the serpents, 
doubtless to their relief, were allowed again to hold 
up their heads, and the golden flowers and foliage 
were condemned no longer to droop. The real 
mission in life of these brackets, as has been re- 
discovered in this post-bellum age, is to support 
a napkin which was spread over them so as to protect 
the salt from dust and dirt. 

All the rest of the St. George's Salts have a perman- 
ent golden canopy over them very similar to that 
which covers Queen Elizabeth's salt cellar. On top 
of the canopy in each case is a knight in armour, 
in some cases mounted, in others on foot. The 
knight is probably meant for St. George, in some 
cases mounted before killing the dragon, and in 
others dismounted and at rest, after having accom- 
plished that historic feat. 

Appertaining to the great salt cellars there 
remain a residue of twelve gold salt spoons, the 
missing numbers no doubt having been lost, or 
annexed by excessively loyal guests. 



THE ROYAL PLATE 67 

Two very handsome gold tankards are in the 
Jewel House, which were added to the Royal plate 
by George IV. Viewed from a discreet distance 
the effect is very fine, but a closer inspection is not 
recommended to those who disapprove of realism 
in art. Queen Victoria, it is reported, disliked these 
flagons intensely. 

The silver trumpets and gold maces are placed 
in the Jewel House as part of the Royal Treasure. 
There were originally sixteen silver trumpets, but 
one disappeared in a bygone reign and has never 
been recovered, so that fifteen only remain. They 
are the ordinary shape of a cavalry trumpet, and are 
used not only at the King's Coronation, but also when 
proclamations are made by the Heralds in the King's 
name. They were thus used, for instance, when the 
Heralds rode to various parts of London and pro- 
claimed the Peace at the end of the Great War, in 
1919. Pendent from each trumpet is a crimson silk 
banneret richly embroidered in gold, displaying 
the Royal arms with the cypher of the reigning mon- 
arch. At the Coronation of the sovereign the trum- 
peters blow a fanfare on these silver trumpets, the 
ritual for which in the old world wording of the 
Coronation service is thus given : 

" The Archbishop of Canterbury speaks thus to 
the people : ' Sirs, I here present unto you King 
George, the undoubted King of this realm : where- 



68 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

fore all you who are come this day to do your 
homage, are you willing to do the same ? ' The 
people signify their willingness by loud and repeated 
exclamations, all with one voice crying out ' God 
save King George/ " 

Then the trumpets sound a fanfare. 

Of gold maces there are eight in number at the 
Tower. The oldest of these are two made for Charles 
II ; there are two also which date from the reign of 
James II, whilst three were supplied for William and 
Mary, and one for George I. They are all of very 
similar pattern. A mace was originally a weapon 
used by cavalry soldiers, and many and various 
patterns of these may be seen in the Armoury in 
the White Tower. It was, in fact, a bludgeon with 
a short handle and a heavy head, sufficiently heavy 
to beat in the steel helmets worn in those days. 
The ceremonial mace has, instead of a battle-head, 
a crown, and this crown is to denote the delegation 
of the Royal authority. The Sergeant-at-arms carry- 
ing the mace before the Speaker, and placing it on 
rests before him in the House of Commons, thus 
conveys the Royal Assent to the assembly. In 
the same way mayors of towns have crowned maces 
borne before with the same intention. When 
policemen, or peelers as they were then called, wore 
first incorporated, they were served out with trun- 
cheons which were miniature maces with a Royal 



THE ROYAL PLATE 69 

crown at the head of each. These crowns, however, 
were not very practical weapons with which to 
knock a burglar on the head ; indeed, they generally 
broke off, which was an untoward catastrophe, so 
they were discontinued. Those who were in the 
streets of London when the Peace proclamation was 
made at the close of the Great War, will have 
noticed that sergeants-at-arms bearing their maces 
accompanied the heralds and trumpeters, thus 
signifying that the whole ceremony was with the 
King's authority. 

At the coronation of a sovereign the sergeants-at- 
arms, whose number seems to have varied in the 
course of centuries, carry their maces and form part 
of the procession. Originally the mace-bearers were 
a corps of twenty-four knights, or gentlemen of 
high degree, who formed a sort of bodyguard to 
the King, and thus they were in the reign of Richard 
Coeur de Lion. As late as the reign of Charles II 
the sergeants-at-arms bearing their maces are shown 
mounted on horses. At the present day a sergeant- 
at-arms walks and carries his mace, no mean 
weight, as those who have seen them stagger after 
a long day may well imagine. Thirty-four pounds 
do they each weigh. 

We have now accounted for all the secular plate 
in the Tower pertaining to royalty, and proceed 
to describe the ecclesiastical plate used at the 



7 o THE JEWEL HOUSE 

coronations of our monarchs, or on certain occasions 
during their reigns, either at Westminster, or at 
St. Peter ad Vincula, a Royal chapel within the 
Tower. 



CHAPTER V 
ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE 

The Ampulla or Golden Eagle — It's great age — Repaired for Corona- 
tion of Charles II — The lapis lazuli eagle lost or sold — The 
Ampulla escapes the Commonwealth — Hidden in Westminster 
Abbey — The Ampulla at the Coronation — Filled with holy 
oil — Oil costing £200 — Height of eagle — A prototype of the 
lecternes in churches — The anointing spoon — Of Byzantine 
origin — The spoon described — Its use at a coronation — Oil on 
the King's head — The Maundy Dish — Its severe simplicity — ■ 
Inaugurated by Charles II — Maundy money for the aged poor — 
The ceremony of presentation at Westminster — The baptismal 
font — -For Princes and Princesses of the Blood Royal — The 
alms dish — Queen Victoria orders a new font — The bacchan- 
alian flagons — The alms dish and flagon of William and Mary — 
Used in the chapel within the Tower. 

THE ecclesiastical plate, if so it may be 
called, which is kept at the Tower, apper- 
tains to religious ceremonies, chiefly in 
connection with coronation of the sover- 
eigns called upon to reign over the British Empire 
and the baptism of the Royal children. But also 
there are pieces of church plate which are used on 
certain set occasions, as is in due course set forth. 
The oldest piece of plate, ecclesiastical or secular, 
preserved in the Tower, is the Ampulla or Golden 

71 



72 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Eagle. This bears distinct traces of Byzantine 
origin, and thus may be fourteen hundred years old. 
It was for long attributed to Sir Robert Vyner, and 
was supposed to have been made for the Coronation 
of Charles II. But recent exact examination by 
experts has shown that the eagle is of a very much 
earlier origin. To one skilled in such matters it 
is, for instance, at once apparent that the screw 
with which the head is attached to the body is of a 
pattern that was ancient even in the days of Charles 
II, and further a close examination of the body of 
the eagle shows distinct signs of Byzantine workman- 
ship. 1 It may thus be concluded that this eagle 
was used in very early days for the Coronation of 
English Kings. It then was supplanted perhaps for 
centuries by a much more ornate and intrinsically 
valuable emblem of lapis lazuli, with a golden eagle 
at the top enriched with pearls and diamonds, 
mentioned by Mezeray. This valuable bird has 
disappeared altogether, and whether it was disposed 
of to meet the necessities of Charles I, or whether 
sold or destroyed by the Commonwealth, is not 
clear. But the older eagle survived these troublous 
times owing to the fortunate circumstance that it 
was hidden and forgotten in the Treasure House 
at Westminster Abbey. Much mutilated, and with 
the wings broken off, it was handed over to Sir 
Robert Vyner, who restored it for the Coronation 

1 The Crown Jewels of England, by Younghusband and Daven- 
port, p. 34. 



ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE 73 

of Charles II to the form in which we see it at 
present in the Tower. 

The eagle, far from being of life size, is only nine 
inches high, and is in truth a very poor representa- 
tion of an eagle, thus further emphasizing its 
ancient origin. It is, however, of solid gold hollowed 
only sufficiently to contain a small quantity of holy 
oil. This is introduced by unscrewing the head and 
pouring the oil into it, the holy unguent being 
composed chiefly of olive oil and balm. Of so great 
a value is it, that it is on record that James II paid 
no less than £200 for the small quantity required 
for his Coronation ceremony. The Ampulla is the 
prototype of the large brass eagle which we see in 
many churches bearing the Holy Bible on its back, 
emblematically about to fly to the four corners of 
the earth carrying the sacred message of the gospel. 

At the Coronation, when the moment for the 
anointing of the King arrives, a small portion of the 
holy oil is poured into the anointing spoon, the beak 
of the eagle forming the channel. 

The anointing spoon, into which the oil is poured 
from the Ampulla, can probably claim almost 
equally ancient origin. On this, too, recent examina- 
tion has discovered distinct traces of Byzantine 
workmanship. So ancient a spoon has naturally 
been repaired and renewed from time to time during 
the centuries, but that it has existed for more 
than a thousand years is quite evident. The handle 



74 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

of the spoon is seven and a half inches long, tapering 
towards the top, showing that it is intended to be 
gripped with the whole hand, instead of being 
balanced on the fingers as are more modern spoons. 
It is richly ornamented and set with pearls. The 
bowl of the spoon is two and a quarter inches in 
length, and is curiously divided longitudinally by 
a ridge. When in use at a coronation, the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury dips his two first fingers into 
the holy oil resting in these two compartments, and 
with the oil thus raised makes a cross on the King's 
head, on his breast, and on the palms of his hands. 
The Coronation service directs the Archbishop to 
pour the holy oil on to His Majesty's head, but 
being a kindly prelate, he does not obey these 
instructions too literally, thus saving the Royal 
person and robes from a devastating deluge. 

That this Ampulla and the spoon escaped the 
studied destruction of the Commonwealth is proved 
by the records of the Restoration, for it is expressly 
stated that, " All the Regalia, except the ampulla and 
spoon, both of which were constantly kept in the 
Church of Westminster, were sacrilegiously plun- 
dered." 

One of the most impressive pieces of ecclesiastical 
plate, impressive from its severe simplicity, is the 
Maundy Dish. In contrast to the highly decorative 
alms dish of William and Mary, it is perfectly plain. 
In diameter it is somewhat over two feet, and it weighs 



ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE 75 

two hundred and two ounces. It was made in the 
reign of Charles II in 1660-61, who decided, in place 
of continuing the ancient custom of distributing the 
Royal Bounty, to make instead an offering to the 
aged poor. The number of the aged poor to be thus 
beneficed is regulated by the King's age, that is to 
say, if he is fifty years of age, fifty old men and fifty 
old women receive the bounty. The bounty itself 
consists of a silver penny, a silver twopenny, a 
silver threepenny, and a silver fourpenny, making 
a total of tenpence. This in Charles II days was a 
fairly handsome dole ; whilst even at this day the 
set of four silver coins is of a value far above its 
intrinsic merits. Indeed, on one occasion a five 
pound note was given at the Abbey door for the 
purchase of one of these sets. In addition, however, 
to the coins, the aged poor who are yearly selected 
by the Dean of Westminster receive other handsome 
doles from the King in money and clothing. 

The ceremony takes place in Westminster Abbey 
on the Thursday before Good Friday, known as 
Maundy Thursday. The dish is taken from the 
Tower to Westminster, where at the ceremony a 
yeoman of the guard carries it in procession, holding 
displayed the little red bags containing the Maundy 
Money. The aged poor are marshalled on each side 
of the aisle, and to them after an impressive service 
the little bags of money are one by one distributed, 
by the clergy, in the King's name. 



76 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

It will be noticed that William and Mary have 
placed their cypher in the middle of the Maundy 
Dish, but the plate mark clearly shows that it was 
made at the beginning of the reign of Charles II. 

After the ceremony at Westminster the Maundy 
Dish is conveyed back to the Tower, and there rests 
behind iron bars for yet another year. 

Of the ecclesiastical plate the most prominent 
piece is the gold baptismal font made for Charles II, 
and intended to be used for the baptism of all Royal 
children born thereafter. If the original intention 
had been carried out a very long successions of 
Princes and Princesses, including those now living, 
would have had this historic connection with an 
ancient piece of church plate. Unhappily, however, 
owing possibly to the inadvertence of Court officials 
or the clergy, the font has only been spasmodically 
used. The first recorded occasion is at the christen- 
ing of the Princess Augusta, afterwards Duchess of 
Brunswick, the third daughter of Frederick Louis, 
Prince of Wales in the year 1737. We also know that 
it was used at the baptism of George IV, and for the 
same ceremony in the case of twelve of the children 
of George III. 

Then it seems to have been lost sight of, or perhaps 
was mistaken for a punch bowl, for we find that in 
1840-41, Queen Victoria ordered a baptismal font to 
be made of silver-gilt, which is now at Windsor 
Castle, and in which all Princes and Princesses from 



ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE 77 

that date have been baptised. It may confidently 
be hoped that at some future date the older font will 
again come into use, and will not again be lost to 
sight. 

Charles IPs font gives the general impression of 
a large, covered bowl standing on a slender, rounded 
column, and has a somewhat top-heavy effect. In 
height it is about 3 ft. 6 in., whilst the bowl is about 
18 in. in diameter. On top of the cover is a group of 
gold figures representing St. Philip baptising the 
eunuch, whilst below is the cypher of Charles II sur- 
mounted by a Royal crown. The same device is 
repeated on the base of the font. As part of the set 
is a very handsome and massive golden alms dish 
with the Royal arms of the Stuarts engraved large 
in the centre. 

The flagons which have become associated with 
this font are, as their plate-marks show, of later 
origin, and the association, therefore, was only 
temporary, and might without doubt be dissevered. 
They are, in fact, tankards made and intended to 
be used at the festal board, and not for sacramental 
wine. The designs in high relief on these tankards 
is sufficient evidence of this, for they depict bac- 
chanalian scenes of the most realistic nature. It 
is possible that it was these flagons, which were 
thought to be indissoluble from the font, which 
caused the whole set to be put aside by Queen 
Victoria. The flagons are of German origin, made in 



78 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Hamburg, and though their date is uncertain, may 
rightly be ascribed to the Hanoverian dynasty. 

Amongst the ecclesiastical plate is a very handsome 
golden alms dish and flagon made for William and 
Mary, the plate-marks on which show they were 
made in 1691-92. The alms dish is more than two 
feet in diameter, and has in the centre in high relief 
a fine representation of the Last Supper. Below 
this is a panel on which is displayed the cypher of 
William and Mary, surmounted by a royal crown. 
Round the wide rim, also in high relief, are four 
winged cherubs, and between these golden foliage, 
garlands, and fruit. The flagon stands about a foot 
and a half high, and has a handle and cover. The 
body is covered with boldly embossed cherubs' 
faces, foliage, and festoons of roses and fruit. The 
cypher of William and Mary, surmounted by a royal 
crown, is on the front of the flagon. 

These two pieces of ecclesiastical plate have the 
privilege of replacing much older plate three times 
a year on the altar of the Chapel of St. Peter ad 
Vincula within the Tower. These three occasions 
are Easter Sunday, Wliit Sunday, and Christmas 
Day. On these three days the Keeper of the Jewel 
House hands them over to the Tower authorities for 
the period of morning service, and then, reclaiming 
them, replaces them with the Regalia. 

The altar plate, which the alms dish and flagon 
of William and Mary replace on these three occasions, 



ECCLESIASTICAL PLATE 79 

dates to the reigns of Charles I and Charles II. 
This older set of plate, though quite plain, is in the 
eyes of connoisseurs more impressive than the more 
ornate and finely designed insignia of the later 
reign. The origin of this curious routine is lost in 
antiquity. It may, however, have been ordered 
so as to emphasize the arrival of a new dynasty and 
the death of the old ; thus with large and resplendent 
plate to outshine the smaller and plainer vessels 
of the Stuarts. But the origin, be what it may, the 
custom has become established, and will without 
doubt continue year by year as long as the Tower 
stands, and England is England. 



CHAPTER VI 
THE REGAL EMBLEMS 

The emblems of Royalty — Spiritual and Temporal — The regalia 
used at the Coronation of George V — The emblems borne in 
procession at Westminster — The Ampulla or golden eagle — 
The Anointing Spoon — The Sword and Spurs — The ceremony 
of the Jewelled Sword — The King offers it to the Church — 
Redeems it for ioo shillings — The Armilla, or Pall of Cloth of 
Gold — The Orb placed in the King's hand — A potent of Chris- 
tian domination — The Coronation ring — The ensign of Kingly 
Dignity — The Sceptre with the Cross — The Sceptre with the 
Dove — A glove presented by the Lord of the Manor of Worksop 
— The King is crowned with St. Edward's Crown — The Peers 
put on their coronets — the people shout and " the great guns of 
the Tower are shot off " — The enthronement of the King — The 
Queen's Coronation — The Anointing — The Ring — The Queen 
is crowned — The Peeresses put on their coronets — The Queen's 
Sceptre — The Ivory Rod with the Dove — The Regal emblems 
on view in the Tower. 

THE emblems of Royalty are many and 
curious, and each has its significance. 
When a King or Queen of England is 
crowned, all these emblems are brought 
from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, and each in 
turn is presented to the new sovereign by the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. This fact in itself is curious 
and interesting. It is not the House of Lords which 

represents the aristocracy of the country, nor the 

80 



THE REGAL EMBLEMS 81 

House of Commons which represents the people, 
nor the Lord Chancellor as representing Law and 
Order, but the highest prelate of the Church of 
England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who on 
behalf of 500,000,000 subjects of every race and 
creed, is deputed to crown the rightful successor 
King of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of 
wide-world dominions. 

Of these emblems some are of a purely kingly 
significance, such as the Crown and Sceptre ; 
others, like the Orb and Ring, have a religious con- 
nection, whilst others, as symbolized by the Sword 
and Spurs, are military emblems giving the knightly 
touch. 

When a King or Queen is to be crowned, all the 
regal emblems from amongst the Crown Jewels, 
which are required for the ceremony, having been 
conveyed from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, 
are there met by the Peers and high officers, each 
of whom, either by hereditary right or by order of 
the King, takes charge of one emblem. The portions 
of the regalia used at the Coronation of King 
George V were : 

St. Edward's Crown, or the Crown of England. 

The King's Imperial State Crown. 

The Orb. 

The Sceptre with the Cross. 

The Sceptre with the Dove. 

The Jewelled State Sword. 



82 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The Sword of State. 

The Three Swords of Justice and Mercy. 

The Gold Spurs of St. George. 

The Bracelets. 

The Coronation Ring. 

The Ampulla or Golden Eagle. 

The Anointing Spoon. 
These are all borne in procession to the altar, 
and there, with the exception of the Swords, each 
article is handed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, 
who in his turn hands them to the Dean of West- 
minster, and by that prelate they are each in due 
order placed upon the altar. When the ceremony 
of coronation commences, the first emblems used 
are the Ampulla and Spoon. 

The Dean of Westminster pours a little of the oil 
from the Ampulla into the Anointing Spoon and 
takes it to the Archbishop. The Archbishop dips 
his first two fingers into the oil, and with the oil 
that adheres to them anoints the King, first on the 
head, then on the breast bared for the occasion, 
and thirdly on the palms of both hands. In each 
case the anointing is made in the form of a cross. 
This ceremony of the anointing of Kings is of very 
ancient origin, as may be gathered from Bible history. 
Thousands of years ago it was the custom to pour 
oil on the King's head and thus anoint him King 
over his people. What the origin of the custom 
was is not quite clear, but in the course of centuries 




fHE KINGS ROYA1 iCBPTKB \M> Mil ' I . w i i i I :■ STATI SWORD 



THE REGAL EMBLEMS 83 

it has become a recognized and indispensable part 
of the ceremony. Indeed, so indispensable, that 
there is on record a case where a Queen who had 
always been obliged to wear a wig was so impressed 
with the importance of the oil actually reaching 
the skin of her head that she had a small trap-door 
cut in the top of her wig so that the holy oil might 
assuredly reach its destination. In olden days 
the oil was literally poured on to the King's head, 
so that it ran down his beard and must have con- 
siderably damaged his clothes. In another place 1 is 
mentioned the old horn comb, used to rearrange the 
King's hair, perchance disordered by a too enthusi- 
astic archbishop, which was thrown away by the 
Commonwealth. 

The next portions of the Regalia which come into 
the ceremony are the Spurs and Sword, the emblems 
of knighthood and chivalry. With the Spurs the 
Lord Great Chamberlain merely touches the King's 
heels and returns them to the altar, but of the 
Sword much is made. It is in itself a magnificent 
work of art resplendent with costly jewels, the most 
valuable sword in the world. This most fittingly is 
carried by the Keeper of the Jewel House, an 
officer of high rank in the Army and a warrior of 
many wars. The Archbishop of Canterbury, taking 
the Sword, and accompanied by the Archbishop 
of York, the Bishops of London and Winchester 

1 See p. 96. 



84 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

and other bishops assisting, approaches the King 
and delivers it into the King's right hand. And 
the King having girt the sword about him, the 
Archbishop gives him a benediction strongly remin- 
iscent of that bestowed on the Knights of the Bath 
in olden days : " With this Sword do justice, stop 
the growth of iniquity, protect the Holy Church 
of God, help and defend widows and orphans, 
restore the things that are gone to decay, maintain 
the things that are restored, punish and reform 
what is amiss, and confirm what is in good order : 
that doing these things you may be glorious in all 
virtue ; and so faithfully serve our Lord Jesus 
Christ in this life, that you may reign for ever with 
Him in the life which is to come." This Jewelled 
Sword is then ungirded and placed by the King 
on the altar as his tribute to the Almighty, but the 
Almighty having no need of so valuable or indeed 
of any sword, it is redeemed by the Keeper of the 
Jewel House on payment of ioo shillings to the 
Archbishop, and returns eventually to safe keeping 
in the Tower. 

The Dean of Westminster then puts upon the 
King the Armilla or stole, and the Imperial Mantle 
or Pall of Cloth of Gold, the Lord Great Chamber- 
lain fastening the clasps. 

The King being seated, the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury places in his hand the Orb, which is the sign and 
portent of Christian dominion throughout the world. 



THE REGAL EMBLEMS 85 

On top of the Orb is a jewelled Cross standing on a 
great amethyst. To this the Archbishop draws 
attention, saying : " And when you see this Orb 
set under the Cross, remember that the whole world 
is subject to the Power and Empire of Christ our 
Redeemer/' The Orb is then handed by the King 
to the Dean of Westminster, who again places it on 
the altar. 

The Coronation Ring is the next emblem to be 
brought forward also by the Keeper of the Jewel 
House. The ring is the ensign of kingly dignity 
and of the defence of the Catholic faith, and is 
placed by the Archbishop on the fourth finger of 
His Majesty's right hand. The ring is of gold, and 
set therein is a large sapphire of great value sur- 
rounded by a circle of small diamonds. Across, 
but clear of the sapphire, north to south and east 
to west, are long, narrow rubies, giving the general 
effect of a red cross on a dark blue background, the 
Cross of St. George on a shield. A smaller replica 
of this large ring was given to Queen Victoria by 
William IV, and used at Her Majesty's Coronation. 
William IV naturally had this ring made in his 
lifetime when the Princess Victoria was young, 
but before the time that she came to the throne 
both she and her finger had grown larger. With 
many other things to think about, nobody thought 
of trying the ring on the Queen's finger before the 
ceremony, all taking it for granted that it had been 



86 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

fitted. Hence resulted the historic struggle of the 
Archbishop of Canterbury to thrust the ring on, 
and the intense agony of Her Majesty throughout 
the rest of the ceremony. Both of these may be 
seen in the Jewel House, together with the ruby 
ring described later. 

Next in the ceremony comes the presentation to the 
King of the Sceptre with the Cross, and the Sceptre 
with the Dove. But before the Archbishop places 
these in his hands, the Lord of the Manor of Worksop, 
by ancient right, presents the King with a glove 
which His Majesty draws on. The Lord of the Manor 
of Worksop also has the privilege of supporting the 
King's right arm after the Sceptre has been placed 
in the King's hand. The Sceptre with the Cross, 
which is the ensign of kingly power and justice, is 
delivered into the King's right hand by the Arch- 
bishop. This is the sceptre which has the great 
diamond the Star of South Africa set in its head. 
This addition, which was introduced in the reign 
of Edward VII, was directly inspired by that wise 
monarch. The diamond represented the latest and 
youngest member of the British Empire, but the 
King made the proviso that though the great 
diamond was to be introduced no portion of the 
ancient sceptre was to be cut away or destroyed. 
When the King commands someone will be found 
with the brains and ingenuity to follow out the 
deep political sentiment thus expressed. The brains 







THE KING'S ROYAL SCEPTRE. 

Reproduced by permission of Messrs. Cassell & Co., from a painting made by 
Mr. Cyril Davenport (Copyright). 



THE REGAL EMBLEMS 87 

and ingenuity were duly furnished by Garrard's, 
perhaps the most famous of a long succession of 
Court Jewellers. 

The Sceptre with the Dove, which is known as 
the Rod of Equity and Mercy, is by the same 
prelate placed in the King's left hand. 

The King holds these two sceptres in his hands, 
whilst the definite act of coronation takes place. 
The crown used is St. Edward's Crown, or the Crown 
of England. This the Archbishop first places on 
the altar, and pronounces a blessing. The Dean of 
Westminster than takes the crown and with the 
bishops processes towards the King, who is seated 
in the ancient Coronation Chair. There he hands 
the crown to the Archbishop, " who putteth it rever- 
ently on the King's head. At the sight thereof the 
people with loud and repeated shouts cry, " God 
save the King " ; the Peers and the Kings of Arms 
put on their coronets, and the trumpets sound, and 
by a signal given the great guns of the Tower are 
shot off." 1 

St. Edward's Crown is very heavy, being made of 
massive gold ; it is therefore almost immediately 
replaced by the King's State Crown, a much lighter 
and at the same time much more resplendent insignia. 
St. Edward's Crown is never used again till the 
next sovereign in succession comes to be crowned. 
Throughout his reign the King on all State occasions, 

1 From the Coronation Service. 



88 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

such as the opening of Parliament, wears his State 
Crown, sometimes known as the Diamond Crown. 
Indeed, it may well be so called, for it is one great 
mass of brilliancy thrown forth by more than 6000 
diamonds of every size. 

The final act in the Coronation ceremony is the 
enthronement, or as it is more anciently named, 
the Inthronisation. Wearing the State Crown, with 
a sceptre in each hand, and clothed in the robes 
of majesty, the King is conducted from St. Edward's 
Chair to the Throne of England, and is placed upon 
it by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Then all 
those peers and high officers who bear the Swords, 
and Orb, and other portions of the Regalia, group 
themselves round the steps of the throne, whilst the 
Archbishop makes his final exhortation. After the 
coronation of a sovereign all the Regalia are handed 
back to the Keeper of the Jewel House and conveyed 
to the Tower of London, where the majority rest 
till the next King or Queen ascends the Throne. 

During a reign the only portions of the Regalia 
which usually leave the Tower are the King's 
State Crown, the Queen's State Crown, the Sword of 
State, and such maces as are required, these being 
used when the King opens Parliament in State. 
On great occasions, however, such as the day when 
peace was declared, at the end of the Great War, 
the silver trumpets are taken out and the State 
trumpeters sound a fanfare thereon when the 



THE REGAL EMBLEMS 89 

heralds make proclamation. At the same time 
two or three of the Sergeants-at-Arms , maces are 
also taken out and borne in the heralds' procession. 

When a Queen in her own right, like Queen 
Victoria, is crowned, she uses the same Regalia as is 
above described for a King, but when the Queen is a 
Queen Consort the procedure and Regalia are differ- 
ent. For such occasions a double set are made, 
such as were used by James II and his Queen Mary 
of Modena ; by William III and Mary II ; by 
Edward VII and Queen Alexandra ; and by George V 
and Queen Mary. The Regalia of a Queen Consort 
consists of a State Crown, a ring, and two sceptres, 
with regal robes somewhat similar to those of the 
King. 

The ceremony of the coronation of a Queen Con- 
sort is comparatively brief, and is performed by the 
Archbishop of York. First the Queen is anointed, 
whilst four peeresses hold a rich pall or canopy of 
gold over her. The Archbishop is enjoined to 
pour the oil on Her Majesty's head, but we 
confidently hope that he is usually not too 
literal in the interpretation of this injunction. 
After the anointing, the Keeper of the Jewel House 
hands the Coronation Ring to the Archbishop, 
who places it on the Queen's fourth finger of the 
right hand, giving to it the name of the Seal of 
Faith. Then the Archbishop takes the Queen's 
Crown and reverently places it on her head, re- 



go THE JEWEL HOUSE 

f erring to it as the Crown of glory, honour, and joy. 
At the same moment as the Queen is crowned all 
the peeresses put on their coronets. Finally the 
Archbishop of York places a Sceptre in the Queen's 
right hand, and the Ivory Rod with the Dove in 
her left hand. 

All the regal emblems above described are kept 
in the Jewel House at the Tower of London, and 
are there on view every day in the week, except 
Sundays and Christmas Day, all the year round. 
On Saturdays and Bank Holidays the Jewel House 
is free to visitors, whilst on other days a charge of 
sixpence is made. On a Whit Monday Bank Holi- 
day as many as 16,000 people have been known to 
pass free through the Jewel House. The money 
paid for entrance does not, as in the old days, go to 
the Keeper of the Jewel House or to his assistants, 
but to the Treasury. The takings vary from over 
£700 in a good month, say August, down to £150 
in a bad month, generally December. The total 
fees taken must be some £5000 per annum. Thus 
the Crown Jewels are not like talents hidden in the 
ground, but bring in a handsome income to the 
State. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE GREAT TRAGEDY 

Tragedy comes to the Crown Jewels — The Parliamentary obsession 
— The emblems of royalty to be destroyed — Some sensible 
Lords — The Puritan unmasked — Some excellent bargains for 
the righteous — The Black Prince's ruby sold for £4 — Concealed 
and returned to Charles II — Alfred the Great's Crown melted 
down — Then 800 years old — Fetched £238 — Queen Edith's 
Crown — Sold for £16 — A glass cup for £102 — The golden Dove, 
emblematic of the Holy Ghost, £26 — The three swords another 
bargain — St. George's gold spurs for £1 13s. 4d. — The " old 
home comb " — A complete list of the Royal plate and jewels 
with their values — The Robes destroyed — The Restoration — 
Regalia furnished for Charles II — Cost ^320,000 of our money — 
Included therein " a paire of Trowses and breeches over them " — 
The presents of plate — The city of Exeter's gift — And that of the 
Borough of Plymouth — A wine fountain and its uses — The 
Great Salts — A golden baptismal font — The pilfering of jewels 
— James II pays £500 for hire of jewels at his coronation — 
A new State Crown required — A diadem which cost £110,000 — 
A new Sceptre with the Dove £440 — The Sceptre with the Cross 
£1025 — St. Edward's staff — A new Orb for Queen Mary of 
Modena — The aquamarine monde of James II — The Maundy 
Dish — The Alms Dish and flagon of William and Mary — The 
Imperial Crown of India — Queen Mary's Crown — The tragedy 
of 1649 happily wiped out. 

THE greatest tragedy which has ever hap- 
pened to the Crown Jewels occurred 
during the sway of the Commonwealth. 
This period, thus misappropriately named, 
was, it is said by people who know all about these 

91 



92 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

things, merely a national aperient, which as such, 
they say, served its purpose, but the medicine smells 
no sweeter to many of us of this day than it did to 
those who had to swallow it in that bygone age. 
The Parliamentarians took themselves extremely 
seriously, and in the solemn attempt to stamp out 
the monarchy, and all monarchical principles, they 
with the limited intelligence that permeates the 
parochially-minded thought to further this fanatical 
principle by destroying even the emblems of royalty. 
This though these had become nothing more danger- 
ous than any other articles of wondrous historic 
value such as are fitly preserved in the British 
Museum. This class of fanatic might, with ponder- 
ous conscientiousness, blow up the Pyramids of 
Egypt in furtherance of some similar principle. 

In solemn conclave, therefore, the House of Com- 
mons passed a resolution that all emblems of royalty 
should be totally broken up, the gold and silver 
to be melted down, and the jewels sold to the best 
advantage. True there were a few sensible members 
of the House of Lords who pointed out that the 
historic value of the Crown Jewels far exceeded 
their intrinsic worth, and that to melt down crowns 
and plate and to disperse jewels of renown was a 
very extravagant procedure, especially so in an era 
of strict economy. Nevertheless, broken up and 
destroyed were the Crown Jewels, and happily we 
have a list of the portions which fell into the molting- 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 93 

pot, or beneath the hammer of the auctioneer. The 
House of Commons of those days was liberally 
primed with what are known as Puritans. A Puritan 
was doubtless an excellent person according to his 
lights, but an outside world has since been, perhaps 
unjustly, somewhat inclined to confound him with 
another not very popular and more ancient biblical 
type. It is, therefore, perhaps not unnatural to 
find that many mundane persons of those days, such 
as Royalists and Cavaliers, in whispers at the time 
and later more openly, declared that the disposal 
of the Crown Jewels was so effected as to give the 
Members of Parliament and their friends some very 
handsome bargains. 

This, indeed, would not be difficult, for as a 
matter of policy it was considered inadvisable 
that any obtrusive popular rush should take 
place for the possession of these royalist relics. 
Rather was it endeavoured to demonstrate of what 
little value they were in the eyes of the simple 
Republican ; therefore, doubtless the sale was little 
advertised. It would be very interesting to know, 
for instance, who and how some lucky person secured 
the Black Prince's ruby, which is, and was, practi- 
cally priceless, for £4. It may, of course, have been 
a Royalist who obtained possession, and who, 
guarding it carefully, handed it back to Charles II 
on his Restoration. We should like to think so. But 
more probably it went at that bargain price to a 



94 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

friend of Parliament, and by him was preserved as 
a good investment, and eventually was sold back 
for money, or a substantial benefit, to Charles II. 
All that really matters now is that the ruby survived 
those troublous days, and found itself again in a place 
of honour in the State Crown of Charles II. 

An object of great interest which was melted 
down was the Crown of Alfred the Great. This 
was made of gold wire-work, set with small gems, 
and weighed 79 \ ounces. Even at that time it was 
nearly 800 years old. Melted down, this crown 
was sold at £3 an ounce, and fetched altogether 
£238 10s. od. What became of the stones is not 
stated. Either the despoilers had a disappointment 
in the Crown of Queen Edith, wife of King Harold, 
or its value was of set purpose depreciated. This 
crown had always been held to be of massive gold, 
but the assayers, it is said, found that it was made 
only of silver-gilt, but it was set with garnets, pearls, 
sapphires, and other stones. It weighed 50J ounces, 
and was sold for £16 only. This appears to have 
been a good investment for the fortunate pur- 
chaser. 

The " large glass cup wrought in figures/' which is 
mentioned in the inventory as having been sold for 
£102 15s. od., was a very ancient and valuable article. 
It was not of glass, but was made of agate, and was 
the great " stone " chalice of Edward the Confessor. 
It is mentioned by Sporley, and was then six hundred 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 95 

years old, and the date of the sale is nearly three 
hundred years ago. All trace of this chalice has 
been lost ; it has probably long since been broken 
and thrown away, unknown and unhonoured. 

Amongst the articles to be broken up or sold is 
a curious item. It is entered as " A dove of gold, set 
with stones, and pearle, poiz. 8J ounces, in a box 
sett with studs of silver gilt." By some this has 
been confused with the ampulla or golden eagle, 
for a dove or an eagle when not very exactly made 
might resemble each other or any other bird. Very 
possibly the Parliamentary Commissioners did so 
mistake this dove for an eagle, and thought they 
were destroying the ampulla. This, however, as 
we have seen, was hidden away and escaped the 
general sacrilege and destruction. This dove was 
probably merely a holy emblem representing the 
Holy Ghost, as does the dove on the top of the 
sceptre. 

Amongst the less valuable articles sold are men- 
tioned three swords with scabbards of cloth of gold, 
which were disposed of for £1 each. Here again 
somebody secured a great bargain, for these three 
swords would in all probability be those sent to 
Henry VIII by the Pope, when he bestowed on that 
monarch the title of " Defender of the Faith." 
These three swords were reproduced from ancient 
drawings at the Restoration of Charles II, and are 
now preserved in the Jewel House. They are the 



96 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

swords of Justice, Temporal and Spiritual, and the 
Sword of Mercy. The point of this latter sword has 
been purposely broken off about six inches, as an 
emblem of mercy. The ultimate fate of three original 
swords is not known. Only a short time ago, how- 
ever, three swords very like these were dug up at 
Mitcham when the foundations of a house were being 
prepared. This spot has long been known as the site 
of an ancient Anglo-Saxon settlement, and it is prob- 
able that there was still a hamlet here in Cromwellian 
days. It is, therefore, quite possible that someone 
bought or acquired the swords at the great dispersal, 
that their history got lost sight of, and that they 
were lost and buried amidst the natural decay 
which ordinary buildings suffer in the course of 
centuries. 

One of the King's military emblems, St. George's 
Spurs, are mentioned as having been sold for 
£i 13s. 4d., they had always been held to be of 
pure gold, but were sold as silver gilt. 

Last of the list comes an almost pathetic article, 
to wit, one old home comb " worth nothing." 
This was probably the comb which may have been 
used for centuries, and by many Kings, to rearrange 
their hair after the Archbishop had perchance 
disturbed it when anointing His Majesty's head at 
the coronation. 

A list of the chief portions of Regalia, broken up 
and sold by order of Parliament, with the prices 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 97 

realised, mentioned in The Crown Jewels of England, 1 
may be of interest : — 

" A true and perfect Inventory of all the plate 
and Jewells now being in the upper Jewell-house 
of the Tower, in the charge of Sir Henry Mildmay, 
together with an appraisement of them, made and 
taken the 13th, 14th, and 15th daies of August, 1649 : 

The Imperial crowne of massy 

gold, weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz., 

valued at . . . £1110 o 

The queenes crowne of massy gold, 

weighing 3 lbs. 10 oz., . £338 3 4 

A small crowne found in an iron 

chest, formerly in the Lord 

Cottington's charge (from other 

accounts this appears to have 

been the crown of Edward VI.), £73 16 8 
the gold, the diamonds, rubies, 

sapphires, etc., . . £355 

The globe, weighing 1 lb. 5 J oz., . £57 10 o 
Two coronation bracelets, weigh- 
ing 7 oz. (with three rubies and 

twelve pearls), . . £36 o 

Two sceptres, weighing 18 oz., . £60 
A long rodd of silver gilt, 1 lb. 

5 oz., . . . £4 10 8 

1 The Crown Jewels of England, by Major-General Sir George 
Younghusband and Cyril Davenport. 

G 



98 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The foremention'd crownes, since y e inventorie 
was taken, are accordinge to ord r of parm 1 totallie 
broken and defaced. 

The inventory of that part of the 

regalia which are now removed from 

Westminster Abbey to the Jewel 

House in the Tower. 

Queene Edith's crowne, formerly 

thought to be of massy gould, 

but, upon trial, found to be of 

silver gilt ; enriched with gar- 

netts, foule pearle, saphires and 

some odd stones, poiz. 50J oz., 

valued at . . £16 o 

King Alfred's crowne of goulde 

wyer worke, sett with slight 

stones, poiz. 79J oz. at £3 per 

oz., .... £248 10 o 
A goulde plate dish, enamelled, 

etc., . . . £77 11 

One large glass cupp, wrought in 

figures, etc., . . . £102 15 o 

A dove of gould, sett with stones, 

and pearle, poiz. 8£ oz., in a box 

sett with studs of silver gilt, . £26 o o 
The gould and stones belonging to 

a collar of crimson and taffaty, 

etc., .... £18 15 o 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 99 

One staff of black and white ivory, 

with a dove on the top, with 

binding and foote of goulde, . £4. 10 

A large staff with a dove on y e top, 

formerly thought to be all gould, 

but upon triall found to be, the 

lower part wood within and 

silver gilt without, . . £2 10 o 

Two scept rs one sett with pearles 

and stones, the upper end gould, 

the lower end silver. The other 

silver gilt with a dove, formerly 

thought gould, . . £65 16 10J 

One silver spoone gilt, poiz. 3 oz., . £0 16 

The gould of the tassels of the livor 

cuird robe, weighing 4 oz., 

valued at £8, and the coat with 

the neck button of gould, £2, 

the robe having some pearle, 

valued at £3, in all . . £13 o o 

One paire of silver gilt spurres, 

etc., . . . £1 13 4 

All these according to order of Parliament are 
broken and defaced/ ' 



ioo THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The ancient coronation robes destroyed at the 
same time are catalogued and valued as follows : — 

" One common taffaty robe, very 

old, valued at . . . £0100 

One robe, laced with goulde lace, . £0100 

One livor cull ed silk robe, very old 

and worth nothing, . . £000 

One robe of crimson taffaty, sarce- 

nett valued at . . £050 

One paire of buskins, cloth of 

silver and silver stockings, very 

old, and valued at . £026 

One paire of shoes of cloth of gold, 

at . . .£026 

One paire of gloves embroid" 1 w* 

gould, at . . . £010 

Three swords with scabbards of 

cloth of goulde, at . £300 

One old combe of home, worth 

nothing, . . . £000 



Total in the chest, . . £4 11 o" 

The old Regalia having thus been wantonly 
destroyed, it became necessary when the monarchy 
was restored to make anew the emblems of royalty. 
This work was entrusted to Sir Robert Vyner, the 
Court Jeweller, with instructions that he was to 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY ioi 

follow as closely as possible the fashions of those 
destroyed. 

The order included two crowns, one the Crown 
of England, known as St. Edward's Crown, with 
which the King was to be crowned, and the other 
a State Crown which the King in accordance with 
ancient custom would wear on all other State 
occasions during his reign. Two sceptres also were 
to be made, one the Sceptre with the Cross and the 
other the Sceptre with the Dove. The Orb of gold 
set with jewels and surmounted by a cross came 
next ; then St. Edward's Staff, which is to guide 
the King's footsteps,' and the Armilla 1 and Ampulla. 2 
The bill for these, together with some minor portions 
of the Regalia, amounted to £32,000, or about 
£320,000 at the present purchasing value of the 
sovereign. 

Sir Edward Walker, Garter Principal King-at 
Arms in the reign of Charles II, gives an interesting 
and detailed account of this restoration of the 
Regalia. 3 

" Because through the Rapine of the late unhappy 
times, all the Royall Ornaments and Regalia 
heretofore preserved from age to age in the Treasury 
of the Church at Westminster, were taken away, 
sold and destroyed, the Committee mett divers 

1 A stole made of cloth of gold. 2 See p. 73. 

3 The Crown Jewels of England, by Younghusband and Daven- 
port. 



102 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

times not only to direct the remaking such Royall 
Ornaments and Regalia, but even to sette the form 
and fashion of each particular : all which doe now 
retayne the old names and fashion, although they 
have been newly made and prepared by orders 
given to the Earle of Sandwich, Master of the Great 
Wardrobe, and S r Gilbert Talbott, Kn 1 ., Master 
of the Jewell House. 

Hereupon the Master of the Jewell House had 
order to provide two Imperial Crownes sett with 
pretious Stones, the one to be called St. Edward's 
Crowne, wherewith the king was to be crowned, and 
the other to be putt on after his Coronation, before 
his Ma ties retorne to Westminster Hall. Also 

An Orbe of Gold with a Crosse sett with pretious 
Stones. 

A Scepter with a Crosse sett with pretious Stones, 
called St. Edward's. 

A Scepter with a Dove sett with pretious Stones. 

A long Scepter, or Staffe of Gold with a Crosse 
upon the top, and a Pike at the foote of Steele, 
called St. Edward's staffe. 

A Ring with a Ruby. 

A Paire of Gold Spurrs. 

A Chalice, and Paten of Gold. 

An Ampull for the Oyle and a spoonc. 

And two Ingotts of Gold, the one a pound and the 
other a marke for the King's 2 Offerings." 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 103 

Besides these obvious tokens of royalty there 
were and are a host of minor insignia which take 
their part in the Coronation ceremony, down to the 
garments which the King wears next his person. 
Amongst these appears a shirt of fine linen, to be 
left open in the place where the Archbishop would 
anoint the King. The Master of the Great Wardrobe 
had also to produce " a paire of Trowses, and 
Breeches over them, with Stockings fastened to 
the Trowses, all of Crimson Silke " ; and amongst 
other things a pair of linen gloves, which appear 
very modestly amidst so much splendour. 

To supplement these strictly regal emblems the 
people came forth gladly with offers of plate to 
replace what had been melted down. As the solitary 
piece of plate, left no doubt by an oversight by the 
despoilers, was Queen Elizabeth's gold salt cellar, 
which is now in the Tower, much had to be supplied 
to set the Royal table again on a regal scale. Devon- 
shire, as we have seen, came forth nobly in the cause, 
the two finest pieces of plate coming from the loyal 
citizens of Exeter and Plymouth. Exeter presented a 
State salt cellar, described in a former chapter, and 
the Borough of Plymouth supplied the wine fountain 
already described, both well in keeping with the 
jovial days which wiped out the recollection of the 
dismal period of the Commonwealth. It is a genial 
picture to imagine King Charles with his jovial 
courtiers stemming the tide set loose by the loyal 



104 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Borough of Plymouth, and taking salt with his 
almonds out of the Great Salt. 

In accordance with the fashion of the age, the plate 
on a dinner-table appears to have consisted very 
largely of great salt cellars. These were made of 
great size, so that besides furnishing a modicum of 
salt, which was a precious thing in those days, they 
gave a rich tone to the festive board. In the 
Jewel House are no less than eleven of these 
great gold salt cellars, all of which are known as 
St. George's Salts, and all of which formed a portion 
of the Royal Plate of Charles II. 

To that popular monarch was also presented a 
gold christening font, with the hope shared by all 
his loyal subjects that many children of His Majesty 
would be christened from it. The fates decided 
otherwise, but the font remained a Royal font, and 
many infant princes and princesses were christened 
in it up to the days of Queen Victoria. 

The Regalia seems to have been somewhat hardly 
used in Charles IPs reign, or Sir Gilbert Talbot, the 
Keeper, must have much neglected his charge. 
Doubtless a good deal of damage was done to the 
State Crown and the Orb, and also to the Sceptre, 
when Colonel Blood tried to carry them off. Several 
stones were then lost, we know, but that would not 
account for the heavy bill which had to be paid 
when James II came to the throne. 

The Crown of England, known as St. Edward's 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 105 

Crown, which had been new made for Charles II, 
and should never have left the Jewel House in the 
Tower until the next King was crowned, had evidently 
had the valuable stones pilfered out of it and worth- 
less imitations set in their places. To replace 
these gems appears to have been beyond the finances 
of James II and his Parliament, for it is on record 
that the sum of £500 was paid for the hire of jewels 
for the Coronation ceremony, probably from the 
Court Jewellers. In addition, £350 was paid for 
additional gold and workmanship. 

Apparently, too, the State Crown of Charles II, 
which had been battered in by Colonel Blood, was 
not in serviceable condition, for a new one had to be 
made at a cost of £7870. Many of the old gems, 
including the Black Prince's ruby, were doubtless 
used, but the bill mentions that it includes fresh 
jewels. The Crown and Diadem of his Queen, 
Mary of Modena, are not mentioned in this bill ; the 
cost of these may therefore have been otherwise 
defrayed, possibly by the King out of his Privy 
Purse. Both are now in the Jewel House, and the 
diadem alone is said to have cost £110,000, a very 
large sum indeed in those days. 

A new Sceptre with the Dove was made, richly 
jewelled, and costing £440 ; as well as a Sceptre 
with the Cross, at a cost of £1025. Both of these 
were probably made for Mary of Modena, and may 
be seen amongst the present Regalia. St. Edward's 



io6 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Staff, costing £225, is also charged for, though one 
had been made for Charles II, and this latter is in 
the Tower. Also appears in the list one Orb, costing 
£1150, probably made for Queen Mary of Modena, 
and now in the Jewel House. A pair of gold spurs, 
known as St. George's Spurs, are shown as supplied, 
the price being £63 7s. 6d. For the bracelets the 
charge appears to have been £44 18s. 6d., and for a 
chalice and palten £277 6s. 3d. These latter are 
not to be found in the Jewel House now. 

The bill also includes repairs to the Ampulla, or 
Eaglet of Gold, and the Anointing Spoon, for which 
the charge is £102 5s. od. for the ampulla, and £2 
for the spoon. The total bill for these items comes 
out to the handsome figure of £12,050 3s. 5d. 
Whoever made out this bill, and whichever 
Keeper signed it, must have known that they had a 
very complacent Treasury to deal with. St. Edward's 
Staff, the gold spurs, the gold bracelets, are all 
charged for, though they had already been made and 
presumably paid for in the previous reign. The 
ampulla, too, had been repaired and restored by 
Sir Robert Vyner only a few years before. All these, 
which to-day are in the Tower, seem to bear silent 
witness that somebody was paid twice over. 

What James II said to Sir Gilbert Talbot over this, 
or what reply Sir Gilbert Talbot made to His Majesty, 
history does not relate. But the whole incident 
shows how very loosely kept were the Crown Jewels 



THE GREAT TRAGEDY 107 

as recently as three hundred years ago. Indeed, 
to be strictly just, they were never really secure till 
the reign of Edward VII, and in the intervening 
centuries a fairly regular disappearance of gems and 
their replacement with coloured glass seems to have 
been the rule rather than the exception. 

A piece of ecclesiastical plate added to the Royal 
treasure in the reign of Charles II was the Maundy 
Dish, 1 from which the Maundy money has since 
that reign been distributed on Maundy Thursday, 
the day before Good Friday. William and Mary 
have inscribed their monogram and crest on the dish, 
but the plate-mark shows that it belonged to the 
reign of Charles II. 

Two other pieces of church plate which were 
added by William and Mary are a very handsome 
alms dish and flagon. 2 These have W.M. for 
William and Mary, surmounted by a crown embossed 
on them. 

King George V and Queen Mary have added two 
of the finest and most important additions to the 
Regalia. These are the Imperial Crown of India and 
Queen Mary's State Crown, which have already been 
fully described. 

Thus, though it has taken some centuries to accom- 
plish, the devastation wrought by the Commonwealth 
on the Regalia has been more than repaired. The 
Crown Jewels of the King of England are at this 

1 See p. 74. 2 See p. 78. 



108 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

time more magnificent and of far greater value than 
they have been in any former reign — nay more, they 
are of greater value both historically and intrinsically 
than the Crown Jewels of any other monarch. 




Mil'. KEEPER OF THE [RWE1 1 1 *. > l - » IN HI- >l\ll ROBES 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 

One of the most ancient offices under the Crown — The first keepers 
the Abbot and monks of Westminster, 1042 — First official 
Keeper appointed in 12 16 by Henry III — Jewels removed to the 
Tower — The Bishop of Carlisle as Keeper — John de Flete — 
Robert de Mildenhall — Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex — 
His romantic rise — A protege of Cardinal Wolsey — Helps Henry 
VIII to divorce Katherine of Aragon — And to marry Anne 
Boleyn — Made Keeper of the Jewel House, 1532 — In his port- 
folio found the famous letter of Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII — 
Executed on Tower Hill, 1540 — The Marquis Winchester — 
His great rise — Keeper of the Jewels to Edward VI — Hands 
them to Lady Jane Grey as Queen — Escapes the block and is 
taken into favour by Queen Mary — Queen Elizabeth also 
renews these favours — Dies in his bed — Sir Henry Mildmay, 
Keeper of the Regalia in the reigns of James I, Charles I, and 
interregnum — Deserts King Charles and joins the Parliamentar- 
ians — One of the judges at Charles I's trial — Grows rich on 
the proceeds of his office — Dubbed " The Knave of Diamonds " 
— His flight, capture, and trial — His sentence — His estate 
confiscated and given to James, Duke of York — His picture 
after death — Sir Gilbert Talbot appointed by Charles II — 
His rights and perquisites — Holds the office for thirty years — 
Sir Francis Lawley — Heneage Montague — Charles Godfrey — 
Hon. James Brudenell — Lord Lynn — Lord Abergavenny — 
Lord Glenorchie — Sir Richard Lyttleton — The Earl of Darling- 
ton — A break in the ancient office in 1782 — Revived in the 
nineteenth century — Lieut.-Col. Charles Wyndham, who charged 
with the Scots Greys at Waterloo — Sir Michael Biddulph — 
Sir Hugh Gough — Sir Robert Low — Sir Arthur Wynne. 



O 



NE of the most ancient offices in the realm 
is that of Keeper of the Jewel House. 
His title has varied backwards and for- 
wards during the centuries ; at one time 
109 



no THE JEWEL HOUSE 

and in one reign he has been named the Master 
and Treasurer of the Jewel House, in another reign 
or century the Keeper of the Crown Jewels, some- 
times he has been entitled the Keeper of the Regalia, 
and at others, as at present, the Keeper of the Jewel 
House, but his duties have been always the same, 
the custody of the Crown Jewels. 

In very ancient days, when the emblems of 
royalty were few and of no great value, it was not 
necessary to have an officer especially appointed to 
guard them ; the Master of the King's Wardrobe 
would take them in charge along with the rich robes 
that a King wore in those days. So that it is not till 
1042 that we hear definitely of anybody being placed 
in special charge of the King's Regalia. 

The English King who first found it requisite and 
advisable to place his treasure under special guardian- 
ship was Edward the Confessor, and he, being inclined 
that way, placed it in charge of the Church. It was 
thus that the Abbot and monks of Westminster 
became the first Keepers of the Regalia some nine 
centuries ago. For nearly two hundred years the 
Abbey of Westminster safely kept its watch and 
ward, and it was only in 1216, in the reign of 
Henry III, that the most valuable portions of the 
Regalia, such as the Crown and Sceptre, were 
removed to the Tower of London. 

The inadvisability in this sinful world of leaving 
Crown Jewels, intrinsically and historically of great 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE in 

value, only spiritually guarded, was brought into 
prominence by the theft of certain pieces of Royal 
plate by the monks in charge. With the removal 
of the Jewels to the Tower was appointed the first 
official Keeper. Who he was is not related, but a 
few years later, under the same monarch, it is clear 
that the Bishop of Carlisle held the post. 

The Bishop was typical of that age, a man of the 
world, politician, courtier, with an episcopal mitre 
as an adjunct, or rather as a powerful auxiliary in 
his dealings with the world in general, and his 
King and fellow-subjects in particular. There is no 
record of the Bishop of Carlisle actually heading a 
charge of cavalry, as did Thomas a Becket in one 
of his less clerical moments, but he followed the 
King in his campaigns, whether as a strategical, 
tactical, political, or spiritual supporter, or whether 
in all four capacities, careful readers of the history 
of those days will be able to judge. But whatever 
his chief role or whatever the emoluments of his 
office, no mean addition came to his purse from the 
ancient rights and perquisites of the Keeper of the 
Jewel House. 

Amongst the earlier keepers was John de Flete, 
who held the post in 1337 in the reign of Edward III, 
and whose pay we learn was twelve pence per diem. 
Ten years later, also during the reign of Edward III, 
Robert de Mildenhall was in custody of the Regalia ; 
whilst in 1418 Henry VI appointed Thomas Chitterne. 



H2 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

None of these appear to have been men of any mark, 
but no doubt honest folks of good repute and good 
family, who could afford to live comfortably on the 
income derivable, without having other offices 
attached to it. 

In the reign of Henry VIII we find that the highest 
officers in the State were appointed Keepers of the 
Regalia in addition to their more important duties. 
Amongst these was Thomas Cromwell, Earl of 
Essex, who, from very small beginnings, rose to be 
the most powerful personage in the State, only 
second to his sovereign. Son of a man of humble 
position, who combined the trade of butcher with 
that of shearer of cloth at Putney, he, after a turbu- 
lent youth at home and abroad, returned with 
empty pockets to the parental roof at the age of 
twenty-eight. He then married a lady of equally 
modest position, and settled down as a combined 
solicitor and shearer, concerning which combination 
of professions no doubt there passed a fairly obvious 
if rude jibe. As law and trade prospered, he moved 
first to Fenchurch Street and then to Austin Friars. 

Thomas Cromwell's rise to fame commenced in 
1523 when he became a protege of Cardinal Wolsey, 
by whose influence he was returned for a seat in 
Parliament. He was a useful man, the Cardinal 
found, with a working knowledge both of the law 
and of business, whilst undoubtedly he was above 
the average in ability. Moreover he had the best of 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 113 

manners, acquired not only from his distinguished 
clients, but from his experiences abroad. This 
legal knowledge and these persuasive manners the 
Cardinal first put to useful service in suppressing 
the small monasteries, so as to secure funds for the 
endowment of colleges at Oxford and Ipswich. 
Wolsey was a great man, and the idea was great and 
good, but unfortunately the desired result had to 
be attained by the dubious method of violent 
despoliation. So entirely had Cromwell become 
agent for the Cardinal, that Anne Boleyn in a letter 
addresses him as the " Secretary of My Lord/' 

For five years Cromwell was the faithful servitor 
of the Cardinal, and then came the fall of that high 
potentate, a crash which threatened to bring to 
earth his follower with him. But Cromwell was an 
exceedingly clever person, and in the Commons 
succeeded in most ably defending his patron without 
offending his opponents or the King. By thus 
securing for his great patron a comparatively easy 
downfall, he added greatly to his own prestige. 
Wolsey escaped banishment or the block by acknow- 
ledging his misdeameanours and consenting to 
hand over the whole of his property to the King. 
The King in return for this princely endowment, 
which included Hampton Court much as we now 
see it, pensioned the great man off as Archbishop of 
York, in which seclusion he died two years later. 

Cromwell had now caught the King's eye, and he 



H4 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

used his legal knowledge and acquired Court ex- 
perience to climb the ladder, lately so nearly over- 
turned. The King wished much to divorce 
Katherine of Aragon, and to marry Anne Boleyn, 
but the Pope stood in the way. Cromwell, the 
lawyer, suggested that as no legal obstacles stood in 
the way of the King, w T ho can do no wrong, the 
simplest way of disposing of the religious difficulties 
was to deny the supremacy of the Pope in England 
and to proclaim himself head of the Church in his 
own land. Henry VIII followed this advice, threw 
the Pope overboard, divorced Katherine of Aragon, 
and married Anne Boleyn. 

Naturally these great personal services went not 
unrewarded, first in his appointment as a Privy 
Councillor, and next as Keeper of the Jewel House, 
on April 14th, 1532. The latter was one of the 
substantial benefits which in pay and perquisites 
made a man rich in those days. His growing 
wealth and importance clearly pointed to the 
enlargement of his house and property at Austin 
Friars. It is curious to learn that what is thought 
a modern invention, the moving of a whole house 
on rollers, was employed by Cromwell nearly four 
centuries ago. A house belonging to a Mr. Stow 
was deemed to be inconveniently close to the 
Cromwellian mansion, so it was with or without 
consent jacked up on to rollers and bodily moved 
away to a less objectionable propinquity. 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 115 

His part in securing the divorce of Katherine of 
Aragon and the succession of Anne Boleyn brought 
him still further quick and plenteous rewards. In 
rapid succession he became Lord Chancellor, the 
King's Secretary, Master of Rolls, and lastly Vicar- 
General, so that he might be in a position to enforce 
the supremacy of his King over the Church. Sir 
Thomas More, late Chancellor, and Bishop Fisher, 
fell beneath the axe on Cromwell's prosecution, 
their crime being a refusal to acknowledge the King's 
spiritual supremacy. 

A little later we find Cromwell one of those who 
on the fatal May 2nd, 1536, escorted the Queen he 
had helped to make, the hapless Anne Boleyn, to 
the Tower. And only a few days later we see him 
seated a witness at her execution. In his portfolio 
was later found that most pathetic and well-known 
letter addressed by Anne Boleyn to the King * 
praying for mercy, which letter was never passed on 
to the King. 

For four more years the sun shone on the erst- 
while solicitor and shearer, and he became first a 
Knight of the Garter, then a Baron and Lord Great 
Chamberlain, and finally Earl of Essex. Great 
riches and territory too came to him from the 
suppression of the greater monasteries and the 
confiscation of their property. But in 1540 the 
sun set on this phenomenal career, for on June 10th 

1 See Appendix. 



n6 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

of that year, accused of high treason by the Duke 
of Norfolk, attainted by Parliament, he passed 
silently to that same block on Tower Hill to which 
he had assigned so many. 

In the days when great officers of State held the 
lucrative office of Keeper of the Jewel House in 
addition to their other benefices was one William 
Paulet, who later became ist Marquis of Win- 
chester. Of good birth and a country squire, he 
was knighted in 1525, and the same year made a 
Privy Councillor. Shortly after he became a Member 
of Parliament as Knight of the shire of Hampshire, 
and also secured the curious appointment of " Sur- 
veyor of the King's widows, and Governor of all 
idiots and naturals in the King's hands." This 
apparently led by easy degrees to Controller of the 
Royal Household. In 1536 Sir William Paulet was 
one of the judges at the trials of Sir Thomas More, 
and Bishop Fisher, and also of the gentlemen with 
whom Queen Anne Boleyn was accused of too 
familiar consort. 

A year later the Knight became a Baron, under 
the title of Lord St. John, and Treasurer of the 
Royal Household, whilst not long after he became 
a Knight of the Garter and Lord Chamberlain. 
When Henry VIII died he was Lord President of 
the Council, and must have sincerely thanked God 
that he had so far survived and prospered and had 
seen the end of that monarch's reign, with his head 




THOMAS CROMWELL, EARL OF ESSEX 
KEEPER OF THE JEWEL HOUSE IN THE REIGN OF HENRY 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 117 

still on his shoulders. The Lord President was one 
of the eighteen executors of Henry VIIFs will, 
appointed to act as a council of regency during the 
minority of the boy King, Edward VI. In 1550 
St. John sided with the Duke of Northumberland 
in the overthrow of Somerset, the Lord Protector, 
and as a result found himself on the winning side 
with an earldom, that of Wiltshire thrown in. He 
received also the offices of Lord Treasurer and 
Keeper of the Jewel House. A year later we find 
plain William Paulet of a few years ago created 
Marquis of Winchester. 

When Edward VI died, the Marquis, as Keeper 
of the Jewel House, handed over the Crown Jewels 
to Lady Jane Grey, and saluted her as Queen. 
Nine days later, however, he was amongst the 
Lords who from Barnard's Castle, which lay on the 
river-bank close alongside the Tower, proclaimed 
Queen Mary the rightful sovereign of these realms. 
Nor did the new Queen resent the late temporary 
aberration, but took him to her stony heart, and 
not only confirmed him in all his offices, but added 
that of Lord Privy Seal. The Marquis was really a 
wonderful person, for though his next appearance 
in history is as one of those who conducted the 
Princess Elizabeth to the dread doom of imprison- 
ment in the Tower, we next discover him, a man 
well stricken in years, riding through London pro- 
claiming the same princess Queen of England. Nor 



n8 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

did Queen Elizabeth at once say, " Off with his 
head " \ on the contrary, she confirmed him in his 
appointment of Lord Treasurer. Though now 
upwards of seventy years of age he was made 
Speaker of the House of Lords, and died in harness 
in 1572 at the venerable age of eighty-seven. The 
secret of this long life, apart from physical fitness, 
was the possession of the gift which perhaps we now 
call tact. If any proof were needed, it is only 
necessary to record that a plain squire rose to be a 
marquis and lived through four reigns during which 
heads fell as plentifully as apples in an autumn 
gale, and yet eventually died peacefully in his bed. 

One of the best known Keepers of the Crown 
Jewels is Sir Henry Mildmay, who was appointed 
to the office in April, 1620, by James I, and retained 
that office not only through the reign of Charles I, 
but also through the Commonwealth, and was only 
dispossessed of it by Charles II on his Restoration in 
1660. Besides being Keeper, or as he was termed 
Master and Treasurer of the Jewel House, Sir 
Henry was a Member of Parliament for Westbury 
in Wiltshire, and also at another period for Maldon 
in Essex. He was a persona grata with James I, 
and also, it would seem, with Charles 1 during the 
first fifteen years of his reign. But Sir Henry then 
forsook his sovereign and became one of the Com- 
mittee of the Commons. His defection was con- 
sidered so important that he was, by the Parlia- 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 119 

mentarians, continued in his office, in so far as 
concerned the drawing of the salary and emoluments 
thereof, though the situation was somewhat grotesque 
since he was of the party which was in open arms 
against the King, whose Crown Jewels he was sup- 
posed to guard. 

Sir Henry was nominated, and sat as one of the 
judges who tried Charles I, but he with some courage 
or address escaped signing the death sentence, and 
afterwards claimed that he only accepted nomina- 
tion in hopes of saving the King. Throughout the 
Commonwealth he remained Keeper of the Jewel 
House, though there were no jewels to guard, for 
these had been broken up, defaced, destroyed, and 
sold by the order of Parliament. But being one 
skilled in the etiquette of courts, he made himself 
useful as Master of Ceremonies to Foreign Ambassa- 
dors, and continued to enjoy the rich perquisites 
attaining to the office of Keeper of the Jewel House. 

For forty years Sir Henry Mildmay had grown 
fat and prosperous on the proceeds of his office ; 
indeed, he became a very rich man with great estates 
and much ready cash to spend. But in 1660 Charles 
II was restored to the throne, and Sir Henry Mildmay 
was immediately pounced upon to produce the 
crowns and robes, sceptres, and jewels belonging to 
the kingly dignity, of which he was the reputed 
guardian. At the time the general impression 
was that Sir Henry had appropriated these to his 



120 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

own purposes and sold them to his own advantage ; 
he was in consequence dubbed " the Knave of 
Diamonds/ ' As however has since become clear the 
royal emblems, or such as remained, were disposed 
of under the orders of Parliament. It may, however, 
be conjectured that Sir Henry, in accordance with 
the usages of the age and the rights of his office, 
secured a goodly percentage on the sale prices. His 
detractors averred that he had himself valued and 
bought in the Crown Jewels at the exceedingly low 
prices they fetched, and at his leisure disposed of 
them at great profit. There is, however, no recorded 
proof of this. 

But Sir Henry Mildmay, whether he had a guilty 
conscience or not, thought discretion the better part 
of valour, and attempted to escape abroad. He 
was, however, caught by Lord Winchelsea at Rye 
in Essex and sent back to London. He was tried 
in 1661 at the Bar of the House of Commons, and 
sentenced to be degraded from all his honours and 
titles. Furthermore, he was sentenced to be annually 
drawn on a hurdle through the streets of London 
from the Tower to Tyburn, then passed under the 
gallows, and again dragged back to the Tower. This 
penalty was to be exacted on each anniversary of 
the day on which sentence had been passed on 
Charles I, that is January 27th. Whether Sir Henry 
ever took this ride is not clear, but probably lie did 
more than oner, for it was only in 1664 that the 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 121 

Lords in mitigation ordered him to be transported 
to Tangiers. On the way to his exile, however, he 
died at the town of Antwerp. His vast accumula- 
tions of wealth were forfeited to the Crown, his 
estate at Wanstead being of sufficient importance 
to be assigned to James, Duke of York. 

There was a strong rumour at the time that Sir 
Henry Mildmay had been either hanged or be- 
headed, which rumour caused his relations and 
descendants great annoyance. As proof to the con- 
trary they produced a painting of the dead knight, 
which still exists, showing him lying on his back on 
his death-bed. The clothes have been drawn down 
and his neck bared, so as to clearly show that no 
trace of cord or axe was upon it, and that he died no 
felon's death. Naturally a picture of this sort is no 
proof in a court of law, for the artist might with 
ease omit all signs of violence ; but history bears out 
the contention that Sir Henry Mildmay died a 
natural death. 

Whatever the merits or demerits of Sir Henry 
Mildmay may have been, Charles II had too many 
Royalists with claims on his generosity to retain in 
office one who had evidently been hand-in-glove 
with those who had kept the King from his father's 
throne, and in exile for so long. Amongst those 
with such a claim was Sir Gilbert Talbot, who had 
followed the King's fortunes in France, and was 
now back in England in impoverished circum- 



122 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

stances. On his application for an appointment 
the King made him Keeper, or as he was then styled, 
Master and Treasurer of the Jewel House. We are 
indebted to a very interesting manuscript dictated 
in 1680 by Sir Gilbert Talbot for a detailed account 
of the ancient rights and perquisites belonging to the 
office. These he obtained from Sir Henry Mildmay, 
and it is expressly stated that they were the same 
as enjoyed by Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, 
in the reign of Henry VIII. Facsimiles of some of 
the pages of the manuscript are given, but it is of 
historic interest that they should be recorded in 
full, and these will be found in the Appendix. Sir 
Gilbert Talbot held the office for thirty-one years, 
and as is duly related elsewhere, was in office when 
Colonel Blood made his attempt to steal the Crown 
and other portions of the Regalia. Sir Gilbert and 
his connection with his office enters so much into 
other parts of this book that it is not necessary here 
to say more about him. 

When Sir Gilbert Talbot died in 1691 the office of 
Master and Treasurer of the Jewel House fell in 
succession to persons of various degrees and ranks, 
of whom little can be gathered from modern books 
of reference. 

Sir Francis Lawley, doubtless an ancestor of the 
present Lawleys, was next in charge of the Crown 
Jewels for six years, and was succeeded by Heneage 
Montague, probably a cadet of the family of 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 123 

Montagu, who a few years later became Duke of 
Manchester. 

Montague was followed by Charles Godfrey, who 
was Keeper through parts of three reigns, those of 
William and Mary, Anne, and George I. Then 
came the Hon. James Brudenell, a son of Lord 
Brudenell, a title now merged into that of the 
Marquis of Ailesbury, who held the office for fourteen 
years during the reigns of George I and George II. 
The Hon. James Brudenell was succeeded by 
Charles Townshend, Lord Lynn, who was nine 
years Keeper in the reign of George II. 

The next in succession was William Neville, Lord 
Abergavenny, an ancestor of the present Marquis 
of Abergavenny, though the family now spells 
the name Nevill without the final " e." This 
Keeper was in office for six years in the reign of 
George II. 

He was succeeded by John Campbell, Lord 
Glenorchie, 1 a son of the Earl of Breadalbane, who 
had custody of the Crown Jewels for eleven years 
in the reign of George III. Next in succession came 
Sir Richard Lyttleton, who held sway for thirteen 
years and through parts of two reigns. Next came 
Henry Vane, Earl of Darlington, who retained the 
post for close on twenty years. Whether this noble- 
man was inefficient, or eventually suffered from senile 
decay, is not recorded, but evidently a Keeper was 

1 Now spelt Glenorchy. 



124 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

deemed a superfluous person, for on his death came 
a break in the ancient office which had then existed 
for seven hundred years, and even through so 
unfavourable a period for Royal offices as the 
Commonwealth. 

When Lord Darlington died in 1782 the office of 
Keeper of the Regalia was suppressed under an 
Act of Parliament, known as Stat. 22 Geo. Ill, c. 82, 
and his duties were transferred to the Lord Chamber- 
lain. It is reasonable to conjecture that the pay and 
perquisites also went to the Lord Chamberlain. 

For forty years or more the office of Keeper lay 
dormant, whilst the Lord Chamberlain remained 
responsible for the safety of the Crown Jewels. It 
was not indeed till the reign of Queen Victoria that 
the question arose of the suitability of this arrange- 
ment, for naturally the Lord Chamberlain has much 
else to do, and cannot give his personal guardian- 
ship to so great a responsibility. It was the Duke 
of Wellington, who was then Constable of the Tower, 
who brought the matter to Her Majesty's notice, 
and Queen Victoria thereupon decided to revive the 
office of Keeper of the Crown Jewels. Appropri- 
ately, too, Her Majesty decided that in future this 
charge should be entrusted to an old and valiant 
soldier. Her first choice, therefore, was Lieut. - 
Colonel Charles Wyndham, who had charged with 
the Scots Greys at the Battle of Waterloo, and is, 
it is said, one of those portrayed in the famous and 



THE KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 125 

historic painting by Lady Butler, known all over 
the world, " Scotland for Ever/' 

No less than seven officers were one after another 
appointed by Queen Victoria during her long reign, 
each serving till he died or was promoted elsewhere. 
Colonel John Cox Gawler, late 73rd Foot, succeeded 
Colonel Wyndham, and was in his turn succeeded 
by Captain Arthur John Loftus, late 10th Hussars. 
Then came Lieut. -GeneralSirMichaelBiddulph,G.c.B., 
a very distinguished officer who, after a few years 
as Keeper of the Crown Jewels, was transferred 
to the House of Lords as Gentleman Usher of the 
Black Rod, a post he held to his death. Sir Michael 
Biddulph was succeeded by Lieut.-General Sir 
Frederick Middleton, k.c.m.g., c.b., known to many 
previous generations of Gentlemen Cadets as Com- 
mandant of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. 
The last appointment made by Queen Victoria was 
that gallant old soldier, General Sir Hugh Gough, 
one of the great soldier family of Goughs, who had 
won the Victoria Cross as a subaltern in the Indian 
Mutiny with Sir Deighton Probyn, Sir John Watson, 
Sir Charles Gough his brother, and Sir Sam 
Browne. 

King Edward's only appointment during his 
short reign was General Sir Robert Low, g.c.b., who 
ended a long and distinguished career as a soldier 
by the remarkable military achievement known as 
the Relief of Chitral, certainly one of the most 



126 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

complete strategical and tactical successes recorded 
amongst our smaller wars. 

The office has twice fallen vacant during the 
present King's reign. His Majesty's first selection, 
when Sir Robert Low died, was General Sir Arthur 
Wynne, g.c.b., who had distinguished himself in 
many a war from the Jowaki Expedition of 1877 
and the Afghan War which immediately followed 
it, down to the South African War of 1899-1901. 
Sir Arthur retired from the office of Keeper of the 
Jewel House after five years, and was succeeded by 
the present holder. 1 

1 See Appendix A for list of Keepers from 1042-1920. 



CHAPTER IX 
POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 

The salary of the Keeper £50 — His perquisites — Rooms in all the 
King's houses — And at the Tower of London — His table 
provided from the King's kitchen — Beer, wine, and spirits as 
seemed good to him — The King's New Year gift money — 
Presents from the Ambassadors — Perquisites and privileges — 
How they were encroached upon — How the King decided — 
The King and Sergeant Painter — The Court Jeweller's fee — 
A breeze with the Queen's Household — The Keeper and the 
Crown — The Keeper a Privy Councillor — His official robes — 
" He hath no superior officer " — Pilfering of the Royal Jewels — 
The office worth £10,000 a year— The Keeper's modest salary 
now — But no fear of the block on Tower Hill. 

IN ancient days in England the salaries of 
dignitaries and holders of offices under the 
Crown were comparatively small, but the 
emoluments direct and indirect were often 
very valuable. Thus the official salary of the Keeper 
of Jewel House was, up to Tudor and Stuart days, 
only £50 a year, paid annually in arrears. But since it 
is manifest that no one could live, however economic- 
ally, and keep up his position on this nebulous 
income the kings of those days allowed, what we 
now think vulgar, that is perquisites. Three hundred 
years hence, perchance butlers and hall-porters will 
be as much above the region of subsidiary salaries 

127 



128 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

as is now the Lord Chancellor or the Master of the 
Horse, and as is, also from reliable information, the 
Keeper of the Jewel House. In this respect the 
Keeper of the King's Treasure in those days fared 
by no means indifferently, his salary of £50 being a 
mere bagatelle which might almost have been 
dispensed with. To start with, apartments were 
reserved for him in all the King's palaces, as well as 
at the Tower of London, for it was his duty to travel 
with the King wherever he went, and to take 
with him such articles of the Regalia and Royal plate 
as the King might have occasion to require. When 
in London the Keeper would reside in the Royal 
Palace, whilst his deputy was quartered at the Tower 
in immediate charge of the Regalia. Thus he lived 
rent free, though perhaps not always under the most 
comfortable conditions according to modern ideas, 
for there were a large number of similar officials 
in the King's retinue, and each wrangled with 
another as to who should have this accommodation 
or that, and who should have precedence in this 
minor matter, as in greater. 

The Keeper of the Regalia not only lodged free 
of charge, but also was his table plenteously provided 
from the King's kitchen and from the King's cellar. 
The allotment of solid refreshment laid down sounds 
almost immodest, being no less than fourteen 
"double-dishes " per diem. What a double dish was 
is not quite clear, but at the Coronation of James II 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 129 

there is a great enumeration of the " singular dishes/' 
and the diagram of the table shows all these dishes to 
be round in shape. Presumably, therefore, a double 
dish was oblong in shape, was twice the size, and 
held twice as much as a singular dish. And whereas 
our forefathers thought little of the light viands of 
these days, we may conclude that the fourteen double 
dishes held little but solid meats and puddings. 
Though appetites seem to have been large in those 
days, there appears to be an ample margin in this 
allowance for the Keeper not only to feed himself 
and a moderate following on a fairly liberal scale, 
but also to entertain his friends. Nor was the allow- 
ance of liquid refreshment less liberal ; for in this 
respect we learn that the Keeper was allowed as 
much beer, wine, and spirits as seemed good unto 
him, and presumably to his guests. 

Apart from these creature comforts more sub- 
stantial benefits in hard cash accrued to the guardian 
of the Regalia. His Christmas box was a handsome 
money present which came out of the King's New 
Year gift money. This gift money, which usually 
amounted to £3000 in gold, was presented to the 
King by members of the nobility, each according 
to his quality, and the Keeper received it on behalf of 
His Majesty for redistribution. Out of this sum he 
was entitled to keep one shilling in the pound as his 
own share, and to make what profit he could in dis- 
tributing the remainder in silver, the ratio between 



130 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

the gold pound and its exchange into silver being a 
sensible source of profit. It was calculated that this 
percentage and rate brought in from £300 to £400 
every New Year to the Keeper, which we must not 
forget was equal in value to £3000 to £4000 at this 
date. 

The highest in the land in days of old were not 
above taking presents, or as we should now vulgarly 
call them, tips ; indeed, these were a recognised 
source of income. The Earl of Essex, when Keeper 
of the Regalia in the reign of Henry VIII, saw 
nothing derogatory in taking presents of money from 
foreign ambassadors, for it was the custom that he 
should do so, and it was as much an obligation on 
the part of those ambassadors to gratify the Earl 
of Essex as it is in our day to gratify the present 
Earl of Essex's butler. The occasion used for this 
gratifying exchange of courtesies was when the 
Keeper carried presents from His Majesty to these 
ambassadors, and these occasions must have been 
frequent or else the gratifications must have been 
liberal, for on an average the Keeper counted on 
making another £300 a year in this way, and again 
we must multiply that sum by ten to get its present 
value. 

We are indebted to Sir Gilbert Talbot, who was 
Keeper of the Jewel House in the reign of Charles II, 
for an exact account of the ancient rights and privi- 
leges of his office. These he had received from Sir 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 131 

Henry Mildmay, who was Keeper in the reigns of 
James I and Charles I, who in his turn passed on 
what had been enjoyed by Thomas Cromwell, Earl 
of Essex, Keeper in the reign of Henry VIII. 
Sir Gilbert Talbot's preamble reads : — 

" The Master of the Jewel House holdeth his 
place by Patent, for life, under the Broad Seal of 
England to enjoy all the perquisites and privileges 
which any of his predecessors at any time enjoyed" 1 

These are as follows : — 

1. A fee of £50 per annum out of the Exchequer. 

2. A Table of 14 double dishes per diem. 

3. £300 per annum out of the New Year's gift 

money. 

4. The carrying of presents to Ambassadors. 

5. The small presents at New Year's tide. 

6. Anciently Treasurers of the Chamber which 

office was a branch of the Jewel House. 

7. Frequently Privy Councillors, as were Cromwell 

and the two Gary's. 

8. Right to buy, keep and present all his Majesty's 

Jewels (when given). 

9. Choice of his under Officers. 

10. Choice of the King's and Queen's Goldsmiths 

and Jewellers. 

11. £20 in gold, upon signing of the Goldsmith's bill. 

1 From the MS. written in 1680, in possession of Mrs. Lowndes. 
See Appendix D. 



132 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

12. Lodging in all the King's houses. 

13. A close wagon (when the Court moveth) for his 

own goods ; and two carts for his officers. 

14. Precedence in Courts and Kingdom. 

15. Privilege of the Drawing room. 

16. Robes at the Coronation. 

17. In Procession place before all Judges. 

18. He putteth on, and taketh off the King's Crown. 

19. He keepeth all the Regalia. 

20. He hath lodgings, etc., in the Tower. 

21. A servant there to keep the Regalia. 

22. He hath no superior Officer. 

23. He furnisheth plate to Ambassadors and all 

great Officers. 

24. He remandeth it when Ambassadors return ; and 

Officers remove or die. 

25. He provideth a Garter and plain George for 

Knights of the Garter. 

Having thus recounted his rights and privileges, Sir 
Gilbert Talbot in a long petition to King Charles II 
pointed out how these had been encroached upon 
through, he avers, the machinations of Hyde, the 
Lord Chancellor. The first great grievance was 
that his " 14 double dishes " per diem, which we 
have seen carried in their wake as much bread, beer, 
and wine as seemed good to the Keeper, were dis- 
continued, and in place thereof he was given a 
meagre £120 per annum as board wages. This was 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 133 

indeed an economy for the Treasury, for the scale 
of board wages had formerly been fixed at 35s. per 
diem on such occasions as the fourteen double 
dishes, etc., could not on the line of march, for 
instance, be supplied. 35s. a day came to a matter 
of £641 per annum, so that the Keeper stood to lose 
£421 each year on the deal. Naturally this raised 
his wrath. 

In connection with the next item of complaint, 
Sir Gilbert Talbot did somewhat better. His right 
of old was £300 out of the money presented to the 
King by the nobles in accordance with their patents 
at the New Year. The total sum thus presented 
was, we have seen, about £3000, so that the Keeper's 
percentage was liberal enough; but in addition, 
though the Keeper received the £3000 on behalf of 
the King in gold, he was allowed to disburse it to 
those to whom it was distributed in silver, whereby 
he calculated to make another shilling in the pound 
profit, making a total of £450. King Charles, 
evidently bored with details, and the persistence 
of Sir Gilbert, compounded for £400 yearly, and that 
sum became the Keeper's fixed perquisite under 
this head. 

Then came a very knotty point. Formerly, appar- 
ently, the Keeper of the Jewel House received the 
equivalent of £300 per annum for " carrying presents " 
to the foreign ambassadors. These presents con- 
sisted of plate, and the Keeper not only carried them, 



134 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

but made his percentage out of the goldsmiths on 
their value, as well as receiving such gratuities or 
favours as the ambassadors might give him in 
return compliment. But the Duke of Buckingham 
having prevailed upon Charles I to make these 
presents in the form of jewels instead of plate, and 
the Keeper of the day, who was Sir Henry Mildmay, 
having incautiously remarked that he knew nothing 
about the purchase of jewels, this useful addition 
to his income was taken from him and given to the 
Lord Chamberlain, who possibly knew no more about 
jewels, but gladly added this item to his income. 

The Keeper of the Jewel House was entitled to 
twenty-eight ounces of silver-gilt plate every New 
Year's Day as part of his emoluments. This he took 
either in kind or cash, as seemed good to him. 
Nobody seems to have interfered with this item, 
but the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Manchester, is in 
Sir Gilbert Talbot's bad books over a cognate 
matter. Apparently certain nobles had yearly, 
probably as a sort of tribute for their patents, 
to make small presents of gold to the King on New 
Year's Day. These can have consisted of little more 
than a few coins, for the total amount only came to 
£30 or £40. Each offering of gold was contained in 
a purse, and both the gold and the purses were 
handed on to the Keeper as his perquisite. Lord 
Manchester claimed these purses, but not the gold, 
as his own, as did his successor the Earl of St. Albans. 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 135 

But the Keeper complained to the King, and con- 
tested this claim : so the King, who was for a 
pleasant life and as few worries as possible, decided 
that the purses by ancient right belonged to the 
Keeper, but that if he was a wise knight he would 
give five or six of them yearly to the Lord Chamber- 
lain as a peace offering. This accordingly he did, and 
all parties appear to have been contented. 

Anciently the Keeper of the Jewel House was also 
Treasurer of the Chamber, his title then being Master 
and Treasurer of the Jewel House. But on the 
Restoration, with so many faithful but needy 
Royalists to be provided for, the office was divided, 
and the Keeper felt this deeply ; for apparently 
the Treasury portion was the richer, indeed it 
became five times more valuable as a source of income 
than the Jewel House. 

The choice and appointment of his subordinates 
was, and is, the right of the Keeper of the Jewel 
House, and the reason for this was somewhat 
curiously demonstrated. Apparently on one occasion 
a vacancy having occurred, a certain Sergeant 
Painter went direct to the King and asked him for 
the post. Charles II, with his usual good nature, at 
once consented. Painter armed with this authority 
came to the Keeper and demanded the appoint- 
ment. But Sir Gilbert Talbot refused to accept 
him, and said he would take the King's orders him- 
self. Going to the King, Sir Gilbert asked whether 



i 3 6 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

His Majesty had appointed Sergeant Painter to the 
vacancy in the Jewel House. The King said he had 
clone so. Sir Gilbert pointed out that by right all 
such appointments were made by the Keeper, so 
that he might be sure of the honesty and loyalty of 
those under him who were guarding the Jewels and 
plate. " Well," said the King, " for this time let 
it pass, and I will invade your right no more." Sir 
Gilbert then asked if the King would be security 
for all the Jewels and plate entrusted to Painter. 
To which the King replied, " No, indeed will I not ; 
and if that be requisite I recommend him not." 
Having made this remonstrance to draw attention 
to his rights, the Keeper withdrew his objections, and 
calling up Sergeant Painter appointed him to the 
post. 

One of the handsomest perquisites of the Keeper 
was the appointing of the Goldsmiths and Jewellers 
to the King and Queen. These appointments were 
worth £800 each to him, that being the sum paid him 
for this privilege by the firms appointed. During the 
confusion of the Restoration the Keeper nearly lost 
this valuable addition to his income, for a Groom 
of the Chambers, named Coronell (Colonel ?) Blage, 
annexed the right and offered the appointment to 
Alderman BackweU for £800. The Alderman, 
however, hearing that the right of appointment had 
heretofore belonged to the Keeper of the Jewel 
Route, chew back and informed the Keeper. That 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 137 

officer at once intervened with such emphasis that 
" Mr. Blage deserted his pretensions/' and the £800 
went to its lawful assignee. The Keeper no longer 
appoints the Court Jewellers, and nobody gets the 
£800 for doing so. 

The Court Jewellers and Goldsmiths, according to 
ancient custom, made to the Keeper a present of £20 
in gold when he signed their annual bills. This was 
in the bad old days doubtless a bribe, so that the 
bill might not be too closely scrutinised. We may 
also be well assured that the £20 did not come out 
of the Jeweller's pocket, but was fully covered by 
adding a little here and there to each item in the bill. 
It is refreshing to learn that as early as the seven- 
teenth century, some Keepers recognising the ques- 
tionable nature of this £20 present, refused absolutely 
to take it, and checked the bills honestly. Needless 
to say that at the present day the Keeper is put 
into no such invidious position ; in fact he never 
sees a bill, all these being discharged by the Lord 
Chamberlain, who, it is hardly necessary to mention, 
does not receive a £20 honorarium from Messrs. 
Gerrard, the Court Jewellers, for doing so. 

In the days when the Keeper of the Regalia 
followed the King wherever he went, rooms were 
reserved for him, his officers, and his servants, in 
all the King's palaces. Then breezes, as might now, 
arose amongst the various Court officials as to the 
apportioning of the available accommodation. Thus 



i 3 8 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

we find the Keeper recording that, in 1660, the 
lodgings provided for him at the Palace in Whitehall 
were rude, dark, and intermixed with those of the 
Queen's Household. The dining-room was " a kind 
of wild barn, without any covering beside rafters 
and tiles. The Keeper's lodgings were two ill 
chambers, above stairs, and the passage to them 
dark at noon-day." 

Perhaps naturally under these mixed conditions, 
and tempers being shortened by the rain pouring 
through the tiles during dinner, the relations between 
the Keeper, who was a member of the King's House- 
hold, and the members of the Queen's Household, 
became colder and colder, till at length each flew to 
their titular heads. The Queen's Household no 
doubt had excellent grounds of complaint, as had 
also doubtless the Keeper, and thus both were even. 
But the Keeper, being an astute person, played a 
final trump card ; he said he could not be responsible 
for the King's plate and treasure with so many 
people in and out who were not under his orders. It 
was really not safe, he said ; it was absolutely essential 
that he should have the whole set of lodgings to 
himself. So out went the Queen's Household, and 
the Keeper and all his officers were installed in a 
compact and unassailable mass. 

The Keeper of the Jewel House has always boon, 
and is to this day, a member of the Sovereign's 
Household. In former times he held certain rights, 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 139 

privileges, and precedence, but these in the course of 
ages have mostly melted away, though his warrants 
of appointment have from time to time stated that 
he was to enjoy all the rights and privileges of his 
predecessors. For instance, one of the rights, or 
rather, as we should now style it, one of the duties 
of the Keeper, was never to let the crown out of 
his keeping. So definite were his instructions that 
he had personally to take the crown from the Tower 
to the King's Palace, and with his own hand place 
it on the King's head. He had then to follow the 
King wherever he went, say to the opening of Parlia- 
ment, never allowing the crown to be out of his sight. 
On the return to the palace he was to take the crown 
off the King's head, and return with it to the Tower. 
This procedure is now much altered. The Keeper of 
the Jewel House, on demand of the Lord Chamberlain, 
hands over the crown to him or his representative, 
takes a receipt for it, and has no further responsibility 
till the crown is returned to him. 

In Tudor days the Keeper of the Jewel House 
was generally made a Privy Councillor, and if not 
already of higher rank was created a Knight, and 
ranked as the senior Knight Bachelor of the King- 
dom. At a coronation he wore a robe very like that 
of a Baron, but with a crown embroidered in gold 
on his left shoulder. A robe very like this is still 
the official robe of the Keeper; it is, however, of 
crimson silk more like that of a Knight Grand 



i 4 o THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Cross of the Bath, with a golden crown embroidered 
on the left shoulder. The whole costume may be 
seen in Sir George Naylor's book of the Coronation 
of George IV. 

In precedence the Keeper ranked after Privy 
Councillors and before all Judges, and had, as at 
present, the private entree at all State functions at 
Court. As late as the seventeenth century none 
below the rank of Baron, and the Keeper of the Jewel 
House who ranked as a Baron, were allowed this 
privilege. 

A very curious privilege which the Keeper of the 
Jewel House still retains is that " he hath no superior 
Officer in Court or Kingdom." He receives no orders 
except from the King himself or conveyed to him 
through the Lord Chamberlain. The origin of this 
rule is not far to seek, for otherwise, in less settled 
days, anybody who was in a position to do so might 
have ordered the Keeper to hand over portions of 
the Regalia or Royal Plate. As a safeguard against 
the Keeper or his officers tampering with the Crown 
Jewels, it was open to a committee detailed by the 
Lords of the Treasury to inspect the Regalia at 
such times as they might think fit. In spite, how- 
ever, of these precautions there is very conclusive 
evidence that the regal emblems were constantly 
being tampered with, valuable stones extracted 
and coloured glass inserted to replace them. Who 
committed these abstractions, whether the Keeper 



POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE 141 

himself or whether by the King's command, is not 
certain ; perhaps more probably the losses were 
due to the Crown Jewels being insufficiently pro- 
tected and guarded. As late as the reign of James II 
we have a record of the new King paying as much as 
£500 for the hire of Jewels for the day of his Corona- 
tion, presumably to replace pieces of coloured glass 
found in the regal emblems. A somewhat notable 
instance of this is the large, faceted globe or monde 
which used to be on the top of the King's Crown. 
This was always described as a very valuable aqua- 
marine, and is portrayed on the crowns of several 
sovereigns. Unhappily, on examination the magnifi- 
cent aquamarine was found to be of glass, the real 
stone having been removed in some previous reign 
and replaced by a worthless imitation. This glass 
replica, as before mentioned, is shown as a curiosity 
amongst the Crown Jewels. 

To emphasise the position of the Keeper of the 
Regalia he was frequently made a Privy Councillor, 
and amongst those specially mentioned as such, 
are Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, and the two 
Cary's, probably father and son, who succeeded each 
other. Taken as a whole, therefore, it is evident 
that the office was both in dignity and emoluments 
a very valuable one, and as such naturally much 
sought after. It is calculated that, allowing for the 
difference of value then and now, that about £10,000 
a year would be the present equivalent of the Keeper's 



1 42 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

pay and emoluments. Both Thomas Cromwell and 
Sir Henry Mildmay became very rich indeed, whilst 
Sir Gilbert Talbot died by no means a pauper. 

Compared to this brilliant and opulent past the 
present may seem a less entrancing vista for the 
Keeper of the Jewel House ; but times and customs 
have changed, and an old officer with £300 a year 
added to his pension, with snug quarters provided 
by the King in the Tower of London, finds himself 
in a more honorable and less precarious position 
than his ancient predecessors with their bribes and 
perquisites, but surrounded by jealous enemies, and 
always with the block on Tower Hill upon the 
near horizon. 



CHAPTER X 
THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 

The Black Prince's ruby — Its great size and value — Came to the 
British in 1367 — Henry V wears the ruby at the battle of 
Agincourt — Its narrow escape — On Bosworth Field — Henry 
VII — The ruby is sold for £4 after Charles I was beheaded — 
In the State Crown of Charles II — Stolen by Colonel Blood and 
found in Parrett's pocket — Now in King George's State Crown 
— The Koh-i-Nur — Its bloody history — Nadir Shah obtains 
it by strategy — He is murdered — Passes to the Afghan throne 
— Shah Suja brings it to Lahore — Captured by the British — 
Presented by the Army to Queen Victoria — Now in the diamond 
crown of Queen Mary — The sapphire of Edward the Confessor 
— Said to have magic qualities — The Stuart sapphire — 
Bequeathed to George III by Cardinal York — Now in the band 
of the King's State Crown — The Stars of Africa — The largest 
diamond in the world — Presented to Edward VII by the Union 
of South Africa — Cut into four great portions — Value of the 
stars — Some historic diamonds — Pearls of Queen Elizabeth — 
Their history — Now on the King's State Crown — The perils 
of the Jewels in the Great War — Four narrow escapes. 

THE history of England might be written 
round the gems that adorn, and in many 
cases, grace the regal emblems. Of the 
greater precious stones there are connected 
and authentic traditions which carry them back to 
Edward the Confessor, or to the Black Prince, or to 
Queen Elizabeth ; but besides these are many 
thousands of smaller stones set in the crowns, 

143 



144 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

some of which, as is testified by their cutting, are of 
untold antiquity. These have probably been set 
and reset in the crowns of the Kings of England 
for centuries, but being of no remarkable size or 
shape are not recognisable in the presentments of 
ancient crowns. Even in this year of grace it is 
found impossible to pictorially portray a diamond 
so as to give even moderate justice to the original. 
Leaving, therefore, the smaller stones to their silent 
testimony, it is possible to give the romantic stories 
of the greater gems. 

Of these the one which claims perhaps to the 
British Empire the greatest interest is the great 
ruby, which is indeed as large as a small hen's egg, 
and is given the place of honour in front of the 
King's State Crown. This is the celebrated and 
historic jewel which first in its English history 
belonged to the Black Prince, the eldest son of 
Edward III. 

The ruby came to him in true knightly fashion on 
the field of battle. In those days the potentates 
of Europe were accustomed to lend each other 
armed forces, large or small, to accomplish such 
military achievements as might be dear to one or 
the other or to both. Thus it was that Edward III 
It nt a small force of some four or five thousand 
English troops to Don Pedro, King of Castille, to 
be employed during a short campaign in Spain. 

Mainly through the skill of the Black Prince, aided 




THE BLACK PRINCE 
WITH THE FAMOUS RUBY IN HIS CORONET 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 145 

by the courage of the English soldiers, Don Pedro 
defeated his enemies at the Battle of Najera, which is 
near Vittoria, where the Duke of Wellington many 
centuries later won another British victory. In 
gratitude for this signal service Don Pedro gave to 
the Black Prince his most treasured jewel, an 
enormous ruby. 

The ruby, red as human blood, had come to Don 
Pedro in bloody fashion. In 1367 it belonged to 
the King of Granada, another minor sovereign in 
Spain, and Don Pedro greatly coveted the greatest 
gem of the Western world, as it then probably was. 
He therefore took direct action towards obtaining 
the stone, and in cold blood slaughtered the King of 
Granada and carried off the ruby. His gift to the 
Black Prince, therefore, however generous it may 
have seemed, was not improbably a decent pretext 
for getting rid of a treasure ignobly acquired, and 
which when once possessed lost its value. How old 
the ruby was in 1367 history does not relate, but it 
bears visible evidence that it had previous to that 
date an oriental origin, which may have extended 
over many centuries. 

This is judged by the fact that at the top of the 
ruby may be seen a piercing, made evidently so as to 
enable it to be worn suspended from a necklace. 
This piercing of precious stones is of very ancient 
oriental origin, from which it is concluded that the 
ruby came from the East, and not improbably from 



i 4 f> THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Burmah, where similar rubies have been found. 
The ancient piercing has in a later century been 
filled up by inserting a small ruby in a gold setting. 

However ancient its origin, the ruby came into the 
possession of the British Crown in 1367-68, and has 
since been through many and great adventures 
before it reached its present well-earned security in 
the Tower of London. 

The Black Prince, using the pierced hole, had the 
ruby sewn to the velvet cap he wore under his 
coronet, and an ancient print shows the gem thus 
disposed. The Prince died in 1376, a year before 
his father, and therefore never came to the throne ; 
but he bequeathed the ruby to his son, who afterwards 
became Richard II. Henry IV, on usurping the 
throne probably usurped the ruby with it, but it 
does not reappear in history till the next reign, that 
of Henry V. Here it had a very notable and thrill- 
ing adventure, for it took part in one of the greatest 
of British victories, the battle of Agincourt. It 
was the custom in those days for the King, if a 
doughty warrior, and Kings were expected to be so, 
to, take the field with his troops and to fight at their 
head. Nor did he go to battle meanly clad, or 
disguised as a knight of small account. On the 
contrary, he went armed, caparisoned, and mounted, 
as a king ; and so that there should be no mistake 
about it, wore a regal diadem round his helmet. 
Thus went forth Henry V on the morn of Agincourt, 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 147 

and glittering on the front of his coroneted helmet 
was the great ruby. As the battle swayed back- 
wards and forwards many exciting encounters took 
place between redoubted champions on either side, 
each choosing out an opponent worthy of his steel. 
In this knightly quest the great Due d'Alengon, 
searching no doubt for an English duke or earl, 
came upon a commanding figure, who from his 
bearing, rich armour, and coroneted helmet was 
evidently a knight of importance. Him, therefore, 
the Due d'Alengon challenged to mortal combat ; 
and lesser folk, as was the chivalry of the day, stood 
aside and held the lists. 

The duel was fierce and strong, and many a shrewd 
blow was dealt and parried, but at length Henry V 
prevailed, and the Due d'Alen^on was unhorsed 
and made a prisoner, to be later held to ransom. 
It was only after the battle was over, and the victory 
of Agincourt emblazoned for ever on the standards 
of England, that the King being unhelmeted, and 
his armour removed, it was discovered that a shrewd 
blow had only just missed the great ruby, or perhaps 
had been turned by it. Indeed, a mighty cut from 
the Due d'Alengon's sword had hewn off a portion 
of the golden diadem in which the ruby was set. 

Some say that this was the last occasion on 
which the ruby has figured in battle, whilst others 
are of opinion that so striking a jewel would always 
have been in the crowns of succeeding monarchs. 



i 4 8 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

If this was so another decisive battle, though not 
on the victorious side, may be added to its war 
record. A little more than a hundred years after 
the battle of Agincourt was fought in England 
another battle of importance, which decided not 
only a local quarrel, but influenced the course of 
the history of the nation. In this battle, which was 
fought at Bosworth Field, Richard III, the Hunch- 
back, was defeated by Henry Tudor. According to 
the well-known story, when the tide of battle turned 
against him, Richard, who had worn his crown 
throughout the day, though probably behind a 
safe barbed wire of knights, was seized with panic, 
and to ensure a less conspicuous retreat, took off his 
crown and hid it in a hawthorn bush. There some 
lucky underling, doubtless in quest of loot, found 3 
it in good and appropriate season, so that the 
victorious army was through its appointed leaders 
enabled to crown there and then, amidst the dead 
and dying, Henry VII King of England. Let us 
hope that the great ruby was in the crown on this 
historic occasion, for it was the birth of the House 
of Tudor. 

Henry VII was the issue of a romance nearly 
connected with the Black Prince, and through him 
with the ruby. When Henry V died, Katherine, 
his widow, having first tasted of royalty, became a 
mere woman, and for love of a mere man married 
a plain but stalwart soldier from the ranks named 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 149 

Owen Tudor. It was their grandson who was the 
victor at Bosworth, and who was there crowned 
Henry VII. 

The next recorded adventure of the great ruby 
came more than a century later, though doubtless 
if it could speak it would have much to say of what 
it saw or suffered during those hundred and sixty- 
four intervening years. When Charles I was be- 
headed, it was ordered by Parliament that all the 
insignia of royalty should be destroyed and the gems 
set therein sold to the best advantage. In the list 
which we have of the Regalia, which was in accord- 
ance with this order totally destroyed, defaced, or 
sold, we find the item : " To one large ballas ruby 
wraped in paper value £4." Thus humbly disguised 
and lowly priced the Black Prince's ruby passed to 
some unknown purchaser. He may have been a 
Royalist in disguise, or he may have been a dealer 
in stones, or this may have been a spurious deal to 
favour a Parliamentarian whom it was wished to 
gratify; perchance even it passed by favour to a 
fair lady beloved of a Roundhead. But whatever 
its adventures during the Commonwealth era, we 
find the ruby safe and sound back in the State 
Crown of Charles II. 

As is related in the account of Colonel Blood's 
attempt to steal the Crown, 1 for convenience of 
porterage the arches were battered in and the 

1 See|p. 183. 



150 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

rim bent double, so that it might conveniently 
be slipped into a bag carried for the purpose. 
During this rough treatment many of the stones 
fell out, and amongst others the great ruby, which, 
when the marauders were captured, was found in 
Parrett's pocket. That this large ballas ruby, as 
it is described, was the Black Prince's ruby is very 
clearly evident, because the setting of Charles IPs 
State Crown is still in existence, in which may be 
seen a vacant hole the exact size and shape of the 
Black Prince's ruby. Curiously enough, this historic 
setting is not State property, but passed into private 
possession, and was last owned by the late Lord 
Amherst of Hackney. 

The ruby is not set clear, but has a gold backing, 
how ancient is not known, but so old that no jeweller 
will run the risk of taking it off to weigh and accu- 
rately measure the stone. Messrs. Rundell and 
Bridge more than a century ago refused to do so, 
and Messrs. Garrard, the Court Jewellers, at this day 
would be equally diffident. A stone so old as this, 
though apparently perfectly sound, is not wisely 
put to so severe a strain as might be occasioned in 
removing the gold setting. 

That was the latest great adventure which is 

ffded of the ruby. From that time to this, a 

Stretch of two and a half centuries, it has passed in 

succession to thirteen Kings and Queens of England, 

and now occupies the pride of place in front of the 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 151 

State Crown of King George V, and rests secure 
and safe in the Tower of London. 



More famous even than the Black Prince's ruby, 
and with perhaps an even more exciting history, is 
the great diamond known throughout the world by 
the name given to it many centuries ago in the East, 
Koh-i-Nur, or Mountain of Light. This priceless 
jewel was found in the diamond-fields of Golconda 
in Southern India, and is first heard of when in the 
possession of the King of Golconda. The King of 
Golconda was a petty chieftain much too insignifi- 
cant to own so great a stone, the fame of which 
had spread throughout India, and stretched its 
alluring light so far north as the throne of the Great 
Mogul at Delhi. The Great Mogul at this time was 
the Emperor Shah Jehan, and as Golconda was 
some 1500 miles from Delhi, the ordinary procedure 
of sending an army to knock Golconda on the head 
and seize the jewel was not feasible. Shah Jehan, 
therefore, employed such guile and diplomacy as is 
dear to the Oriental heart to obtain his desire in 
a less expensive manner. Thus by bribery and 
cajolery the jewel passed, and quite fittingly from a 
historic point of view, into the hands of a great 
monarch. 

The Koh-i-Nur is first recorded as having been 
seen by a European in 1665, when the French 
traveller Tavernier was shown it, then in the 



1 52 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

possession of the Emperor Aurungzebe at Delhi. 
With the Great Moguls it remained till 1739, when it 
started on the more adventurous and tragic period 
of its career. 

In that year the great invasion from the West, 
under Nadir Shah, King of Persia, swept through 
the Punjab and laid Delhi and the unworthy suc- 
cessor of great Kings at his feet. Mahomed Shah 
was the unworthy successor, and having lost his 
kingdom, thought that at any rate he would cling 
to the Koh-i-Nur, thereby to provide himself 
with food and sustenance for the remaining years 
of his life. To Nadir Shah the existence of the great 
stone was well known ; indeed it was to be one of the 
great prizes of the war, but search where they 
would, neither he nor his army of followers could 
find the diamond. Where searchings and direct 
action failed, a little judicious love-making suc- 
ceeded. Amongst Mahomed Shah's large assortment 
of wives was one who was not impervious to the 
gallant attacks of one of the bright knights of the 
conquering hosts. In the intervals of talking about 
more engrossing subjects during their midnight 
meetings, this frail, comparatively fair, but un- 
doubtedly indiscreet damsel, divulged the great 
secret. 

From personal observation she declared, and who 
should know better than a lady who occasionally 
^li.irvd his couch and his affections, the Emperor 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 153 

Mahomed Shah kept the Koh-i-Nur day and night 
concealed in the folds of his turban. The bright but 
dusky knight immediately communicated this inter- 
esting piece of information to Nadir Shah. That 
potentate, instead of taking the commoner course 
of murdering the wearer of this valuable turban, 
or at the least committing burglary with violence, 
chose a more courteous but equally effective means 
of gaining possession of the diamond. He gave 
orders that a banquet should be prepared, and as 
the guest of honour invited Mahomed Shah. Again 
Nadir Shah did not mix ground glass with his 
guest's food, nor did he poison his wine : two 
obvious methods; nor did he make him drunk 
and then steal the jewel. Neither was the gor- 
geous menial who waved a fan behind the royal 
diners instructed to thrust a dagger between the 
shoulder-blades of Mahomed Shah. The acquisition 
was much more diplomatically achieved. 

In the East if one prince or potentate, or even a 
person of lower 'degree, wishes to pay a marked 
compliment to another, he after extolling the 
extreme elegance and richness of the other's turban, 
whilst deprecating the value of his own, proposes 
as a mark of friendship and regard that they shall 
exchange turbans. In the more sordid West there 
might be some economic souls who would not wear 
their best head-gear when such interchanges of 
courtesies were imminent, but in the East the turban 



154 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

is a social insignia, and the higher a person's degree 
the more magnificent his turban. Consequently, 
when two kings meet each other at dinner or other 
State occasions, it may safely be conjectured that 
they will wear their most magnificent turbans, each 
trusting that his own will outvie that of the other. 
Even an exchange which might entail a sensible 
loss would not be without its compensations, for all 
the courtiers on the other side would extol the 
magnificence and richness of the late possessor. 

Mahomed Shah very naturally did not for a 
moment foresee that so great a compliment would 
be paid him by the conqueror, or he would assuredly 
have left the Koh-i-Nur at home that night. To 
his horror and surprise, during the course of the 
dinner Nadir Shah made him a most polite speech, 
extolled his valour and wisdom, swore eternal 
friendship, and as a sign and token of the same 
suggested that they should exchange turbans ! 
To the luckless Mahomed Shah no course was open 
but to accept the compliment with the best grace 
be could muster. It is not surprising to learn that 
during the rest of the feast Nadir Shah was in 
ellent spirits, whilst Mahomed Shah appears to 
have lost his appetite. 

Thus passed the great diamond to the King of 
Persia, who when he returned to his own land, took 
it with him. But it brought him no good fortune, 
for be was in due course murdered, and the 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 155 

Koh-i-Nur was taken by one of his bodyguard, 
an Afghan named Ahmed Shah. This soldier 
of fortune escaped to Afghanistan with the 
diamond, and there eventually became Amir or 
King of that country and founder of the Durani 
dynasty. In 1772 Ahmed Shad died and was 
succeeded by his son Taimur Shah, to whom also 
passed the Koh-i-Nur. Shah Suja, the next occu- 
pant of the throne at Kabul, succeeded also to the 
possession of the famous diamond, but it brought 
him no good fortune, for he was deposed and fled 
for his life to Lahore, taking the stone with him. 
There he found asylum with the Maharajah Runjeet 
Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, but as he soon found, 
only on condition that he handed over the Koh-i- 
Nur to his host. 

In Lahore the celebrated stone was seen by 
Lord Auckland's sister, the Hon. Emily Eden, in 
1838-39. Ten years later the threatening attitude 
of the Sikhs, combined with repeated and overt 
acts of hostility, compelled the East India Company 
to settle once and for all with this turbulent neigh- 
bour. With slender forces Lord Gough advanced 
to subjugate the Sikhs, and in the three great and 
hard-fought battles of the Sutlej, Goojerat, and 
Chillianwalla, laid in the dust the vaunted power of 
this military race. The Punjab was annexed to the 
territories administered by the East India Com- 
pany, the Maharajah Runjeet Singh ceased to 



i 5 6 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

reign, and the Koh-i-Nur passed to the British 
Army as part of the spoils of war. 

During the transition stage the Punjab was 
administered by a board of five British officers, 
amongst whom were the brothers Sir John 1 and 
Sir Henry Lawrence. At one of the meetings of 
the Board the question was raised as to what was to 
be done with the treasure taken, amongst which 
was the Koh-i-Nur, there lying on the table. The 
Board decided to ascertain the wishes of the Directors 
of the East India Company, and asked Sir John 
Lawrence meanwhile to take charge of it. Sir John, 
who had many and great matters on his mind, 
beside which a diamond was of small import, 
wrapped the stone up in a piece of paper, put it into 
his pocket, and forgot all about it ! 

About six weeks after, at another meeting of the 
Board, a letter was read from the Governor-General, 
in which it was stated that it had been decided that 
the Koh-i-Nur should be presented by the Army of 
the Punjab to Queen Victoria. Sir John Lawrence 
listened to this pronouncement without much 
interest, till one of the Board mentioned incidentally 
that the diamond was in Sir John's safe custody ! 

Sir John, not being an emotional man, never 
turned a hair, but after hearing the debate through 
mounted his horse and galloped off to his bunga- 
low. There he summoned his bearer, or valet, and 

1 Afterwards Lord Lawrence, and Viceroy of India. 



THE ROMANCE OF 1HE GREAT GEMS 157 

said : " About six weeks ago I brought home in my 
pocket a piece of glass wrapped in a bit of paper. 
What did you do with it ? " 

" Cherisher of the poor, I placed that piece of 
glass wrapped in paper on the top of your honour's 
office box, and " — opening the box — " here it is ! " 
Being an unemotional person Sir John did not fall 
on his servant's neck and shed tears of gratitude ; 
on the contrary, he merely said, " Very good," put 
the diamond again in his pocket and rode off to 
deposit it with someone who had nothing else to 
think about, and a guard of soldiers to help him 
do so. 

From Lahore to England the Koh-i-Nur was sent 
under special precautions in charge of Major Mache- 
son, and on arrival was presented to Queen Victoria 
as a loyal tribute from the Army which had by its 
gallant deeds added the Punjab to the Empire. 

It was on view to the public at the Great Exhibi- 
tion of 1 85 1, and when that was closed returned to 
the safe keeping of Queen Victoria. The size and 
weight of the Koh-i-Nur when first found is not 
accurately known, but it is conjectured that after 
its first cutting it weighed about 1000 carats. It 
is, however, known that when in the possession of 
Shah Jehan it had, by unskilful cutting, been reduced 
to 800 carats. By the orders of that Emperor an 
endeavour was made to get a better result, the 
further cutting being entrusted to a Venetian 



158 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

named Ortcnsio Borgio. His effort was not deemed 
satisfactory, and Borgio was fined £1000, and may 
be considered lucky not to have lost his head as 
well. When presented to Queen Victoria the 
diamond weighed only 186-J carats. Under the 
superintendence of the Prince Consort it was again 
cut by Coster of Amsterdam into the form of a 
regular brilliant. By this last cutting the stone was 
reduced to 106 1 carats, but curiously enough looks 
larger and is superficially larger than it was before. 
This result was achieved by cutting transversely 
the original cone-shaped stone, this diameter being 
greater than the base. Queen Victoria wore the 
Koh-i-Nur set as a brooch, but it is now perhaps 
more appropriately placed in front of the State 
Crown of Queen Mary. The diamond can, however, 
be removed at pleasure and worn as a brooch. 

It might be thought that so historic a stone 
should be set in the King's Crown, but a curious 
tradition regarding it is thus upheld. From very 
ancient days, and no doubt due to its bloody history, 
the Koh-i-Nur is supposed to bring misfortune to 
any man who may wear it, but that it brings no 
harm to a woman. Certainly it has brought no 
harm to Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, or 
Queen Mary, all of whom have worn it constantly. 

When presented to Queen Victoria the Koh-i-Nur 
was valued at £140,000, but indeed such stones as 
this arc from their historic association practically 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 159 

priceless. The Koh-i-Nur cannot be bought with 
money, and he who wishes to take it by force must 
first defeat the British Empire. 

One of the oldest as well as one of the most 
valuable gems in the Jewel House is the sapphire 
which belonged to Edward the Confessor, and was 
worn by him in his Coronation ring. It would thus 
be considerably older than the Tower of London 
itself, for the Confessor came to the throne many 
years before the Conqueror landed in England and 
built the Tower. As was not an unusual custom, 
the ring with the sapphire was buried with Edward 
the Confessor probably on his finger, in his shrine at 
Westminster, but in the year 1101 the shrine was 
broken open and this and other jewels taken out. 

This was the ring which appears in the legend 
regarding Edward the Confessor and St. John the 
Evangelist. According to this legend St. John on 
one occasion appeared before the King in the guise 
of a pilgrim. To him the King of his bounty gave 
the ring off his finger. Some little time after the 
ring was returned to the King with a message in- 
forming him privily of the exact day of his death. 
Doubtless St. John meant this for a kindly warning, 
so that the King might be absolutely at the height 
of his holiness when the call came. Most people, 
however, would have heartily cursed St. John for 
his officiousness, for few care to live with a guillotine 



160 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

hanging over their heads and a clock facing them 
ticking off the hours and minutes. 

The stone has manifestly been recut, for it is at 
present a " rose," and that form of cutting was 
unknown in ancient days. Probably this was done 
in the reign of Charles II. It is a remarkably 
beautiful gem, of good colour and without flaw, and 
is intrinsically worth a very high sum. In the days 
of Edward the Confessor it was reputed to have 
the miraculous power of curing what was known 
collectively as the cramp, that is rheumatism, 
sciatica, and the like, but we have not heard of any 
later monarch testing its efficiency. The sapphire 
is now set in the centre of cross pate on top of the 
King's State Crown. 

In the band at the back of the King's State Crown 
may be seen a very large sapphire, known as the 
Stuart sapphire, which has seen many adventures. 
What its early history was is not known, but at 
one end is drilled a longitudinal hole evidently 
made for some attachment so that the stone might 
be worn as a pendant. It first came into recogni- 
tion in the reign of Charles II, who wore it in his 
crown, but whether he received it from Charles I or 
acquired it in his wanderings is not quite clear. 
At his death the sapphire passed to James II, who 
when he was dethroned and fled to France took it 
with him. James II left the sapphire to his son, 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 161 

Charles Edward, the Old Pretender, who in his 
turn left it to his son, Henry Bentinck, known as 
Cardinal Yorke, by whom it was bequeathed, with 
other Stuart relics, to George III. George IV and 
William IV in turn owned it, and then it came to 
Queen Victoria, who very greatly prized it and had 
it set in the band of her State Crown, in the front 
and just below the Black Prince's ruby. This 
pride of place the Stuart sapphire resigned in favour 
of the Star of Africa, a portion of which Edward VII 
placed in the crown, symbolising the entry of the 
Union of South Africa into the brotherhood of the 
British Empire. 

The Stuart sapphire is of great size, being about 
i£ inches in length by I in. in breadth, and is oval 
in shape. It is without serious flaw and of good 
colour, though paler than some of the best sapphires 
to be found in other portions of the regalia. The 
stone is set in a gold brooch, and can be removed 
and worn as a personal ornament. 

As gems the two greater portions of the Star 
of Africa eclipse in size and brilliancy all others 
in the Jewel House. Though the stone may 
have taken a million years to form in the womb 
of mother earth, it only saw the light of day 
in 1904. In the rough when found it measured 
4 in. in length, 2\ in. in width, and 2\ in. in depth, 
and weighed roughly i£ lb. But even this huge 



i62 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

block, as large as half a Roman brick, it was con- 
cluded was only a part of some even more gigantic 
diamond, for its base was clean cut as with a knife, 
showing that a portion perhaps as large, perhaps 
even larger, in some remote age, by a great con- 
vulsion of nature, had been split off. For fourteen 
years diligent search was made for the missing 
portion, for any block or spadeful of blue rock 
might contain it. Yet strangely enough, when by 
chance it was found, it came to an untimely end. 
A telegram from Johannesburg, dated October 18th, 
1919, made this brief announcement : "A large 
diamond has been found on the Premier Mine. It 
is estimated to have weighed 1500 carats, but un- 
fortunately had been crushed by the crusher. It is 
believed to be part of the other half of the Cullinan 
diamond." 

The diamond was first known as the " Cullinan 
Diamond," Mr. T. M. Cullinan being at the time 
manager of the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, where 
it was found, and it is still very generally known 
by its first name. It was insured for the sum of 
£1,500,000. The Union Government of South 
Africa eventually became the purchasers, inspired 
with the happy sentiment that this magnificent 
diamond would be a graceful emblem of the entry 
of South Africa into the British Empire. 

When this monster stone was presented to 
Edward VII it looked like a block of rock salt, as 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 163 

may be judged from the exact model of it now to 
be seen in the Jewel House. When the experts were 
called in they declared that it was impossible to cut 
a stone of this size and shape into one brilliant ; 
they therefore recommended that following the 
natural cleavages it should be broken up into four 
parts, two of which would be very great brilliants, 
and two of lesser size. King Edward following this 
advice, and with the full consent of the donors, 
called in the celebrated diamond-cutters of Amster- 
dam, the Messrs. Coster, and put the work in hand. 
One can imagine the enormous anxiety and the 
extraordinary coolness, steadiness of hand, and skill 
of the man who with one tremor of the mallet or 
chisel might mar the greatest stone of all ages. 
The chisel and the steel mallet with which this 
delicate operation was performed are preserved at 
the Tower, and it is noticeable that there are only 
two or three dents in the chisel, showing how true 
and clean the strokes must have been. 

Thus split up, the largest portion was cut into a 
pear-shaped brilliant, and set at the head of the 
King's Sceptre. The next largest portion was cut 
into a cushion-shaped brilliant, and placed in the 
band of the King's State Crown, just below the 
Black Prince's ruby. Both of these brilliants are 
larger and finer stones than any others, including 
the Koh-i-Nur. The two remaining large portions 
are set, one in the band, and the other in the cross 



i04 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

pate of Queen Mary's Crown. It may be of interest 
to record the exact weight and sizes of these four 
great brilliants which collectively are called the 
Stars of South Africa. The largest portion, that in 
the King's Sceptre, weighs 516J carats, and measures 
2f in. in length and m in. at its broadest part. 
The next largest portion, that in the band of the 
King's State Crown, weighs 309^ carats, and 
measures iff in. in length, and iij inches in breadth. 
The third portion, that in the band of Queen Mary's 
Crown, weighs 96 carats, and the fourth portion, 
which is drop shaped and is in the cross pate on the 
top of Queen Mary's Crown, weighs 64 carats. 
Thus it will be noticed that a rough stone weighing 
3025 carats cuts down into four brilliants weighing 
in the aggregate under 986 carats. 

The question is often asked: " What is the value 
of the Stars of South Africa ? " And it is a very 
difficult one to answer, for curiously enough stones 
above a certain size lose their commercial value, 
for few have the money or inclination to buy gems 
of enormous size, and fewer still would be bold 
enough to wear them. Nobody but a King or a 
Queen, for instance, could wear a diamond which on 
an ordinary person would look and certainly be taken 
[or the lustre from a candelabra. Thus the market 
becomes strictly limited, as was definitely brought 
home to the owners of the Premier Mine. It was 
thus that the Union Government were enabled to 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 165 

buy a stone valued at £1,500,000 for £150,000, a 
stone which even when split into four is still of an 
aggregate value difficult to compute. Let us elude 
the difficulty and say they are worth a million and 
a half, and leave it at that. 

It is interesting to compare the Cullinan with 
other well-known diamonds of size and historic 
value, though curiously enough even the present 
existence of these stones is not in all cases certain. 
Those, for instance, which formed part of the regalia 
of the late Tsar of Russia are for very obvious 
reasons at present in hiding. The largest of these 
is the Orloff, which weighs 194 carats. This great 
stone came from India, and was reputed to be a 
cleavage from the still greater stone, the Koh-i-Nur. 
It was stolen by a French grenadier from the eye- 
socket of an idol in a Hindu temple. He deserted 
the army and sold the stone to the captain of an 
English merchant ship for £2000. By him it was 
conveyed to Holland, where a Jew named Khojeh 
Raphael gave £12,000 for it ; and at once resold 
it to Orloff for Catherine the Great for £90,000 
and an annuity of £4000 ! Since that time this 
great stone has remained one of the Russian Crown 
Jewels, and when last seen was set at the head of 
the sceptre of the late Tsar. Where it is now or 
what its fate the future may perhaps reveal. 

Another large diamond, named the Shah, of very 
curious shape, also was amongst the Russian 



166 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Crown Jewels. It is flat and rectangular in shape, 
with a Persian inscription engraved upon it and a 
groove cut round. It weighs 86 carats and was 
given by the Shah of Persia to the Emperor 
Nicholas I. The stone is an exceptionally fine one, 
but owing to its peculiar shape its value can only be 
conjectured. The Polar Star is another very fine 
diamond which formed part of the Russian regalia. 
It was bought by the Russians in London about 
seventy years ago, and is described as of remarkable 
purity and brilliancy. It weighs 40 carats, but the 
price paid for it and its present value is not known. 
Nor its whereabouts. 

The Sanci diamond has a very ancient and inter- 
esting history, and has been through many adven- 
tures. It is first heard of as belonging to Charles 
the Bold of Burgundy on the day he was disastrously 
defeated by the Swiss at the battle of Granson. 
According to tradition a Swiss soldier picked it up, 
and having no value for a piece of glass, sold it for a 
florin or the price of a drink. Eventually it found 
its way to Constantinople, and was there bought by 
the French Ambassador in 1570, and became hence- 
forth known as the Great Sanci diamond. Henry III 
and Henry IV, both of France, were the next posses- 
sors, and whilst owned by the latter King it had 
a curious adventure. One of the King's followers, 
who had chaige of the diamond, was attacked by 
robbers, and the faithful fellow, to save his master's 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 167 

treasure, swallowed it. The robbers after a stiff 
fight slew the servant, and not finding the stone 
pulled the corpse into the thicket and left it. In 
due course of nature, when decomposition had 
done its work, the brilliant was found again and 
was restored to the French King. The Sanci then, 
by sale or gift, passed into the possession of Queen 
Elizabeth, and remained one of the Crown Jewels of 
England through several reigns, and escaped the 
depredations of the Commonwealth. In 1669 it 
was still in the possession of Henrietta Maria, 
widow of Charles I, and was by her entrusted to the 
Earl of Somerset, who handed it over to James II. 
When that monarch fled to France he took the 
Sanci with him and sold it to Lousi XIV for £25,000. 
It long remained amongst the French Crown Jewels, 
and in 1791 was valued at £40,000. In the year 
1835 the diamond passed to Russia, being purchased 
by Prince Demidoff for £75,000. Then in 1865 the 
Sanci returned to India, whence it probably originally 
came, being sold by the Demidoffs to Sir Jamsetjee 
Jeejeebhoy, a rich Parsee of Bombay. From him 
it was bought by the Maharajah of Patiala, at what 
price is not known, and is still in that prince's 
possession, and may be seen on the front of his 
turban on State occasions. 

The Great Moghul originally weighed 787 carats, 
but when seen in the treasury of the Emperor 
Aurungzebe in 1665 by Tavernier it had been cut 



168 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

down to an estimated weight of 280 carats. It 
appears to have been given to the Emperor Shah 
Jehan by the Amir Jumba. It is by some supposed 
to be a portion cleaved off the Koh-i-Nur by some 
great convulsion of nature in remote ages long 
before either were discovered. The diamond is 
believed to be at present in the possession of the 
Shah of Persia. 

The Regent or Pitt diamond was found either in 
Borneo or India, and weighed then 410 carats. It 
was bought by Mr. Pitt, Governor of Madras, for 
£20,400, and was subsequently sold in 1717 to the 
Due d'Orleans, Regent of France, for £80,000. 
In the process of cutting the diamond was reduced 
to 136H carats, and was amongst the French 
Crown Jewels stolen during the Revolution. Later 
it was recovered, and is still believed to be in 
France. 

The Hope diamond is a beautiful blue brilliant 
weighing 44 J carats, and is one of those stones which 
is reputed to bring bad luck to its owner. It formed 
part of the collection of Mr. H. T. Hope, who 
bought it for £18,000, and after whom it is named. 
The stone was last heard of in the possession of an 
American, and quite recently the newspapers gave 
an account of a small child being killed in a street 
accident, the child being the only son of the owner 
of the Hope diamond. 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 169 

Pearls are not like diamonds or other hard stones, 
which, having gone through periods of thousands of 
years under enormous pressure deep down in the 
earth, can now last for thousands more with un- 
diminished lustre set in a ring or a crown, exposed 
to the free air of this terrestrial globe. The pearl is 
really only a sort of disease, or perhaps to put it 
more mildly a distemper, or milder still a pastime, 
on the part of the pearl oyster. A large pearl 
naturally takes many years to form inside the 
oyster's shell, whilst small ones take so many 
years less. Even in one or two years a foreign 
substance, say a small shot, will, if placed in a pearl 
oyster, become to all appearance a pearl of high 
price. Even minute effigies of elephants and 
Bhuddhas when introduced will, in the course of a 
few months, be thinly but completely coated with 
pearl lustre. The true and valuable pearl also had 
a nucleus, probably a grain of sand, and this year 
after year has been covered with thin coatings of 
pearl lustre, so that small or large it is practically 
solid, so solid that it cannot be broken if trodden 
upon. But even so it is merely the product of 
decades, and has not the lasting-power of diamonds, 
or rubies, or sapphires, or emeralds. 

A marked example of the comparatively short 
life of pearls is furnished by a very celebrated one 
known as the Pearl of Portugal. This pearl was as 
large as a pigeon's egg and of that shape, and 



1 7 o THE JEWEL HOUSE 

naturally at its zenith was of enormous value. Seen 
a few years ago by an expert, he described it as having 
deteriorated into nothing more valuable than a piece 
of chalk of the same size and shape. Owners of 
valuable pearls will immediately exclaim: "Oh! 
but that is because it was not constantly worn 
next the skin." There are hundreds, perhaps 
thousands, of women who religiously wear their 
pearls next their skins all day, and some even at 
night, under the impression that they are so pre- 
served. One of the highest experts in pearls and 
precious stones, however, puts this custom on a 
much lower plane. He says that the wearing of 
pearls next the skin is no doubt good as a burnisher, 
likening, from a purely commercial point of view, a 
woman's skin to a finer form of chamois leather. 
But as to any preservative quality in the contact 
he will have none of it. 

Queen Elizabeth's earrings, the four great pearls 
which hang beneath the arch in the King's State 
Crown, are, therefore, apart from their personal 
connection, of considerable interest, as regards the 
life of a pearl as a gem of value. These pearls have 
probably never been worn next the skin, even of a 
Queen. They are drop-shaped and manifestly only 
suitable for earrings or pendants. Yet though 
Queen Elizabeth died more than three hundred 
pears ago they are still in good preservation. Thus 
they may remain for several centuries more if, as at 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 171 

present, they are kept in a perfectly air-tight com- 
partment at an even temperature. But at best they 
can never outlive a diamond. 

The exact history of these pearls is difficult to 
follow, and it is more by tradition and indirect 
evidence that it is assumed that they came from 
Queen Elizabeth. That great lady was, as all her 
pictures show, fond of pearls. She was a great 
Sea Queen, and we may be assured that her captains 
who quartered the globe brought home any great 
pearl they came across from distant seas or lands, 
knowing it would find a Royal purchaser. James I 
probably had not much use for pearls, except to 
horde them, but they seem not to have been amongst 
the Crown Jewels which he succeeded to, for they 
are not mentioned in the careful list that monarch 
made out in his own handwriting, and signed both 
at head and foot. This is understandable, for the 
pearls were Queen Elizabeth's private property to 
bequeath to whom she pleased. It is not clear 
whether Charles I ever had these pearls, but the 
suggestion is that he had, and that he disposed of 
them to meet his necessities in his wars against 
Cromwell. Into whose hands they fell is a matter 
for conjecture as well as how they passed 
through the next century, for the next portrayal 
that we come across of them is in the State 
Crown of another great Queen, Victoria. 

They hung as pendants beneath the cross of the 



1 72 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

arches of the crown, one at each corner. Here they 
were retained by Edward VII, and still occupy the 
same position in the State Crown of George V. 

What wonderful stories those pearls could tell ! 
Of the Great Armada and the pride of that great 
victory ; of the bloody days of Charles I, and of 
his tragic death outside the window at Whitehall ; 
of the gay days of Charles II, and the long and 
prosperous reign of Queen Victoria. But in all those 
centuries they probably had no greater adventures 
or dangers than they experienced together with the 
other Crown Jewels during the Great War of 
1914-19. 

The safe place in the Tower chosen for them by 
Edward VII is burglar-proof, fireproof, and proof 
against alarms and excursions ; but when William 
the Conqueror built the Tower, he had undoubtedly 
never expected that it might be subject to an 
attack from the air. Even so he had made his roofs 
so thick and strong that a dropping cannon-ball 
might well be rebuffed. The pearls and their com- 
rades the gems therefore looked on with calm 
toleration whilst the Germans waged and raged for 
four years over them. Indeed, they had got quite 
accustomed to this aerial bombardment, for though 
bombs fell close around them, still a miss is as good 
as a mile. It was only just towards the end of the 
war that news came which made the soldiers think 
that larger and heavier and more destructive bombs 



THE ROMANCE OF THE GREAT GEMS 173 

were likely to be used by the Germans. Then William 
the Conqueror, walking in the pleasant fields of 
heaven, said to Queen Elizabeth : " I am sorry, but I 
am afraid my walls and roofs cannot keep these out. 
You had better send your pearls away to one of the 
other palaces of the King, out in the open country/ ' 
So the pearls and their consorts one day without any 
fuss just slipped off and went to stay at Windsor 
till the war was over. That William the Conqueror 
and Queen Elizabeth were wise in their decision 
was obvious, for leaning over the ramparts of 
heaven they saw one great bomb fall into the Tower 
moat on the west, another they saw hit the railings 
on the edge of the moat to the north, whilst a third 
hit the Mint across the road to the east, and a fourth 
dropped within a few yards of the Jewel House into 
the river to the south. The next might have sent 
several million pounds' worth of jewels to God 
knows where. 



CHAPTER XI 
THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 

The Merry England of Charles II — An old man the sole custodian 
of the Crown Jewels — The Jewels in the Martin Tower — Colonel 
Blood's plans — His disguise as a parson — Mrs. Blood is seized 
with " a qualme upon her stomack " — Parson Blood's gratitude 
and present of gloves — A match arranged with old Edward's 
daughter — The pious parson at dinner — Blood removes the 
pistols — An early call — The lovers to meet — Mr. Edwards 
stunned, gagged, and bound — The Crown bashed in and placed 
in a bag — The Orb and Sceptre — A surprise arrival from Flan- 
ders — In hot pursuit — The Captain of the Guard nearly killed 
in error — The burglars fight their way out — Reach the Iron 
Gate where horses awaited them — Captured — The Crown saved 
— King Charles rewards Colonel Blood. 

THE Crown Jewels have been through many 
vicissitudes, and have chanced across many 
adventures. They have been in the midst 
of the fiercest and most historic battles, 
and they have lain inglorious in the shop of the 
pawnbroker. But only once have they been 
burglariously removed, and that in the open day, 
and from the midst of the strongest fortress in 
England. 

This happened in the jovial reign of Charles II 
whrn, led by a prince who drank the wine of life 
to the lull, the people of England were out to live 

»74 




COLONEL BLOOD WHO ATTEMPTED TO STEAL THE CROWN AND ORB 
IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES II 
(From the National Portrait Gallery) 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 175 

the free and joyous life, after the horrors of civil 
war and the equally distasteful restraints of the 
Cromwellian era. England was Merry England again, 
and black shadows were put right behind the eastern 
horizon. Officials, even those the most responsible, 
caught the happy vein, and drowned the dismal 
past in flowing bowls of rich red wine. Amidst all 
this joyful living, who cared to be reminded of the 
chains on body and soul and conscience of the prim 
pernicious Puritans ? That anybody would dream 
of attempting to steal the Crown of the beloved 
sovereign never occurred to the most imaginative 
visionary. It might be left all day and all night 
unguarded on the steps of St. Paul's, and no one 
would touch it. In the Tower of London it was 
surely safe enough, without throwing extra guard 
duties on the garrison to supply even a single sentry. 
Such was the spirit and the general feeling in the 
air, which left the Crown Jewels in sole custody of 
one old man, whose age was well past the allotted 
span. 

In former reigns, as we have seen, the Jewels were 
stored in some strong building closely guarded, 
but they were now placed only in a kind of recess 
in the wall with a wired front opening on hinges, 
situated in the basement floor of the Martin Tower. 
The chamber where the Jewels were had only one 
door, but no sentry was placed on this door. In 
the storeys above lived Talbot Edwards, the 



i 7 6 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Assistant-Keeper of the Regalia, with his family. Tal- 
bot Edwards was then in his seventy-seventh year, 
as is testified by his tombstone, now let into the 
south wall of the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, 
within the Tower, which records that he died 
three years later on September 30th, 1674, aged 
80 years. 

To a professional burglar, who after all only uses 
common sense, it would have appeared that the 
Crown Jewels lay in the Martin Tower simply 
asking to be taken by the first person enterprising 
enough to make the attempt. True, though the inner 
casket was weak, the outer safeguards were by 
tradition and superstition inviolable. Massive walls, 
a deep moat, and a battalion of the King's Guards 
seemed to offer an impenetrable barrier to the escape 
of a prisoner, or of a burglar laden with spoil. Colonel 
Blood was no professional burglar, but he had learnt 
as a soldier of fortune to be resourceful, quick to 
seize an opportunity, and bold in the execution of a 
project, however seemingly impossible. His previous 
experiences, and also his observations in the Tower 
showed him that, besides the garrison numerous 
civilians, men and women, lived in the fortress, and 
came and went when known by sight to the guards 
with little hindrance ; whilst known friends of those 
residing within might pass with almost equal 
freedom. 

Amongst those who might expect perhaps easier 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 177 

passage in and out than others would be a parson, 
especially if he was on visiting terms with one of the 
officials quartered in the Tower. This plain fact 
commended itself to Colonel Blood, and he made his 
plans accordingly. With the aid of the Mr. Clarkson 
and Mr. Nathan of those days the soldier of fortune 
became an everyday-looking parson, and as such 
struck up a family friendship with old Talbot 
Edwards. 

Talbot Edwards, though Assistant-Keeper on a 
fixed salary, had failed for years to draw this salary 
from an impoverished Exchequer. When this was 
represented to King Charles by Sir Gilbert Talbot, 
that happy-go-lucky monarch remarked that if 
there was no money in the Exchequer naturally 
Talbot Edwards could get nothing out of it, but, he 
added, the old man might exhibit the Crown Jewels 
to the public, charging them such fees as he thought 
that each visitor might be inclined to pay. Amongst 
this paying public came Parson Blood, accompanied 
by a respectable-looking female who passed as Mrs. 
Blood. But just going in and looking at the Jewels, 
and paying a fee, would not further Blood's designs. 
He would be on no more intimate terms with the 
Assistant-Keeper than hundreds of others ; moreover, 
there would be no reasonable excuse for coming a 
second time to see the Crown Jewels. This being so, 
the temporary Mrs. Blood whilst viewing the Jewels 
had the misfortune to be suddenly seized with 



178 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

" a qualme upon her stomack," and in faint tones 
called upon the distressed Mr. Edwards for some 
spirits. This the old man hastily procured, and the 
invalid found herself so far recovered as to be able 
to go upstairs and lie down for further recuperation 
on Mrs. Edward's bed. 

Having recovered both from the qualme and the 
potency of the spirits, the loving couple departed, 
profusely thanking their kind hosts. Having thus 
paved the way, Parson Blood came again three 
or four days later bringing four pair of white 
gloves — a very handsome present in those days, 
and indeed in these — from the temporary Mrs. Blood 
to the permanent Mrs. Edwards. With the gloves 
came overflowing messages of gratitude which 
Blood delivered. Indeed, so grateful was he that 
he made repeated visits to renew his protestations. 
Blood thus became a familiar figure in the Tower, 
and a well-known and honoured visitor of the 
Assistant-Keeper. 

When, however, this theme of eternal gratitude 
was in danger of becoming tiresome, Blood con- 
ceived a new device for continuing and accentuating 
the friendship. Apparently the temporary Mrs. 
Blood had spent her nights and days in trying to 
devise some means for requiting Mr. and Mrs. 
Edwards for the potent and healing draught supplied 
by them, as well as lor the heavenly slumber as 
a result enjoyed on their connubial couch. After 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 179 

severe and constant wrestling with the spirit, this 
worthy lady had now come to the conclusion that as 
Mr. Edwards had " a pretty gentlewoman to his 
daughter/' whilst she herself had (an entirely 
imaginary) nephew with a fortune of two or three 
hundred a year, a match might well be arranged 
between the two. 

Both Mr. and Mrs. Edwards thought this an 
exceedingly good plan, and Miss Edwards like a good 
girl had not the least doubt about it. Parson Blood 
was therefore asked to dinner so that the project 
might be more fully discussed. At this meal he 
impressed his hosts by the piety and devotion with 
which he said grace, though to more critical souls 
it may have seemed strange that in addition to the 
usual benedictions he wandered off into long prayers 
for the King, the Queen, and all the Royal Family. 

But with all this by-play Blood did not lose 
sight of the main object in view, which was to purloin 
the Crown Jewels. Therefore in the room upstairs, 
noticing a handsome pair of pistols on the wall, he 
concluded that it would be just as well if these were 
out of the way on the auspicious day. Thereupon 
promptly inventing a young Lord to whom he was 
most anxious to present exactly such a handsome 
case of pistols as these, he purchased them off Mr. 
Edwards and carried them away. On leaving he 
blessed the company in the best canonical manner, 
and fixed a day and hour on which he was to bring 




IOI.ONKI Bt.( \ IXC 1 HK > Kt'W \ A 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 181 

cast a brief but critical eye on him she dashed up- 
stairs to tell her mistress what a fine fellow he was. 

Whilst awaiting the appearance of the ladies 
Blood suggested to Edwards that he might fill the 
interval by showing his friends the Crown Jewels. 
The old man readily consented, and unlocking 
the door of the treasure chamber ushered in his 
guests, and then in accordance with his standing 
orders locked the door behind him. This was 
exactly the situation which Blood had so care- 
fully worked up to. A locked isolated chamber, 
with three able-bodied men fully armed oh one 
side, a feeble unarmed man nearly eighty years 
old on the other, and the Crown Jewels of England 
the spoil of the victor in this unequal contest. 
Without wasting further time they knocked Mr. 
Edwards on the head with a wooden mallet brought 
for that purpose amongst others, gagged him, and 
left him lying on the floor for dead. Though only 
stunned Edwards pretended to be dead, but heard 
or saw most of what followed. 

The Jewels were in a recess in the solid 
walls, having a strongly caged door in two parts 
opening outwards. Inside were the two crowns, 
the Crown of England and the King's State 
Crown, the Sceptre and Orb, as well as several 
pieces of valuable plate, including the State salt 
cellar lately presented to Charles II by the City of 
Exeter. Blood, who knew from his previous visits 



182 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

exactly what was there, naturally had made his 
plans to carry off the portions of the Regalia which 
were at the same time the most portable and the 
most valuable. The Crown of England was large and 
heavy, and was set with stones of considerable value, 
but the King's State Crown was lighter and more 
easily compressed, and had set in its front the great 
and priceless ruby of the Black Prince, and was also 
rich with diamonds and lesser gems. Both crowns 
had been made for Charles II by Sir Robert Vyner, 
and both, it may be mentioned in passing, survive 
to this day, though in curiously different surround- 
ings. The Crown of England is in the Tower of 
London, and the shell of Charles II's State Crown, 
bereft of all its precious stones, came into the pos- 
session of the late Lord Amherst of Hackney. Blood, 
therefore, selected the King's State Crown for his 
prey. 

Besides the Crown there were two other regal 
emblems portable and set with precious stones. 
These were the King's Sceptre and Orb. Both are 
now in the Tower of London, the Orb much as it 
was in those days, and the Sceptre the same except 
that the great Star of Africa has been since intro- 
duced into its head. These three then, the State 
Crown, the Sceptre, and the Orb, were the settled 
project of the raid. Mr. Edwards having been 
satisfactorily disposed of, Blood seized the Crown, 
and using the same wooden mallet as had been 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 183 

used on the custodian's head, battered in the arches 
of the Crown and flattened in the band, that it 
might thus fit into a bag made for the purpose which 
he wore under his parson's gown. This rough 
treatment naturally disturbed the setting of the 
stones, and some of these, including the Black 
Prince's ruby, fell out, but were hastily gathered up 
and put into their pockets by the worthy trio. To 
the second marauder, Parrett by name, was assigned 
the custody of the Orb. This was quite a simple 
matter; he just thrust it as it was into the slack of 
his breeches, and dropped the folds of his cloak so 
as to hide the protuberance. 

The third accomplice was to carry off the Sceptre, 
but as this could not conveniently be concealed 
about his person, he was provided with a file where- 
with to file the Sceptre in two so that it might fit 
into a bag which he carried for the purpose under 
his cloak. He was busily engaged on this job when a 
most dramatic event occurred. 

Old Mr. Edwards had a son who had served as 
a soldier in Flanders with Sir Tohn Talbot, and 
having landed in England, obtained leave to visit 
his father at the Tower. By an extraordinary 
coincidence he happened to arrive at this very 
moment, and strode at once to the Martin Tower. 

Outside the door of his father's residence he found 
a young man standing, who asked him his business, 
and who he wished to see. As this was an unusual 



184 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

greeting to receive at the front door of one's own 
home, young Edwards concluded that the stranger 
himself was seeking an interview, and passing 
through said he would see if he could be received. 
The young man at the door, who was in fact Colonel 
Blood's sentry, as young Edwards went upstairs, 
immediately warned his confederates in the treasure 
chamber below, and they made haste to depart, 
taking the Crown and Orb, but leaving the Sceptre 
as it had not yet been filed in two. 

Old Mr. Edwards was not bound, so that directly 
Colonel Blood and his accomplices fled he pulled 
the gag out of his mouth, and yelled with good heart 
and lungs, " Treason ! Murder ! " Miss Edwards 
hearing these alarming shouts ran downstairs, and 
seeing her father wounded and the disorder in the 
Jewel House, rushed out on to the parade ground by 
the White Tower and shrieked, " Treason ! The 
Crown is stolen ! " This gave the alarm to all 
and sundry, and amongst others to young Edwards 
and Captain Beckham who were still upstairs. 
Captain Beckham was married to one of old Mr. 
Edwards' daughters, and was one of the party 
invited to be present at the betrothal. Blood and 
Parrett, followed by the other two, had pushed along 
without suspicious haste, but on hearing the alarm 
raised were seen to nudge each other. However, they 
passed unchallenged under the Bloody Tower where 
was then the main guard, guarding the only gate 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 185 

giving egress from the inner fortress, and thence 
were making their way along Water Lane towards 
the Byward Tower. 

Beyond the Byward Tower was a drawbridge, 
now replaced by a permanent structure, at which a 
yeoman stood on duty, and to him the pursuers 
shouted to stop the clerical party ahead. The yeoman, 
who was armed only with a halbert, came to the ready 
and ordered the fugitives to halt. Blood, however, 
drew a pistol, and firing at close range knocked the 
man over. 

Thus gaining free access to the drawbridge the 
party hastened over. On the far side, where stands 
the Middle Tower, was the Spur guard with its 
sentry posted. The man on duty at this moment 
was named Sill, a Cromwellian soldier now enlisted 
in the Royal Army. Cromwellian or no, he was not 
for being shot in cold blood, and seeing the warder fall, 
tactfully stepped aside and allowed the marauders 
to pass unhindered. Sir Gilbert Talbot thought 
he had been previously bribed by Blood, and this 
is not an unlikely explanation. Anyway, the chief 
obstacles had been overcome and the Crown and 
Orb were outside the main fortress. From the Middle 
Tower, Blood and his companions instead of going 
out of the Bulwark Gate a few yards off, doubled 

i on their tracks, so to speak, and hastened along the 
wharf in an easterly direction towards the Iron Gate. 

I This was a tactical error which proved fatal, for the 



186 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

wharf is some three hundred yards long and in full 
view throughout of the sentries standing on the 
battlements of the outer ballium wall. 

By this time there seem to have been a considerable 
number of people on the wharf, some pursuing from 
behind, and some just entered through the Iron 
Gate on their ordinary business. These latter, 
seeing a commotion and hearing cries of treason 
and murder, with great zeal and promptitude, 
incited and directed by Blood, fell on the pursuers, 
and nearly murdered Captain Beckman, whom the 
worthy parson pointed out as the arch culprit. 

Having disentangled himself from this awkward 
misconception, the gallant captain raced on along 
the wharf and came up with Blood just as he was 
getting to horse. Blood turned short and point 
blank fired his second pistol at Beckman's head. 
But a pistol in those days took some time to go off, 
which gave the captain time to duck his head and, 
charging low, to seize the reverend gentleman. A 
severe struggle then took place. The captain thinking 
more of the Crown itself than of the man who held it, 
instead of overpowering him tried to snatch the 
Crown from him. Blood resisted lustily but Beck- 
man prevailed, and thus roughly handled he secured 
it. But naturally the stones being much loosened 
by the previous hammering, several here also fell 
out, though eventually all with a few comparatively 
insignificant exceptions were recovered. 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 187 

Blood and Parrett were now overpowered and 
captured, whilst Hunt, who was Blood's son-in-law, 
though he got to horse, in galloping off hit his head 
against a pole sticking out from a laden wagon, 
land being dismounted was also captured. The 
three were immediately placed in the securest 
dungeons in the Tower, and word was sent to Sir 
Gilbert Talbot, the Keeper of the Jewel House, 
who at once informed the King. Those looking for 
a lurid and sanguinary end to this story will be 
disappointed. Considering the time and the penal- 
ties which were exacted on such comparatively 
venal offences as the stealing of sheep, one is natur- 
ally prepared to hear that Colonel Blood and his 
accomplices were at the shortest notice drawn on 
hurdles to Tyburn and there hanged, drawn, and 
quartered. But Fate plays curious tricks with the 
lives of men. The Merry Monarch, instead of being 
in the least annoyed with this audacious attempt 
which so nearly lost him his regal emblems, roared 
with laughter and ordered that the chief culprit 
should be sent for judgment to the highest court 
in the realm, the King himself. 

What the King said to Blood, or what Blood said 
to the King, as variously chronicled, may be passed 
over, but the net result was that Blood instead of 
being executed was given a post amongst the body- 
guard of His Majesty, and also granted a salary of 
£500 a year for life. As money was then five times 



188 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

the value it was in 19 14 and ten times the value it 
is in 1920, we may estimate this as a very handsome 
income. Several reasons have been given for 
Charles IFs liberality, and each may be accepted 
with equal caution. The wits and scandal-mongers 
of the time declared that the explanation of the 
King's leniency was due to one of two causes. The 
first was that being as usual short of cash, His 
Majesty conceived the novel expedient of stealing 
his own Crown, and in a roundabout way put up 
Blood to execute the project. The second was more 
sporting than venal, and averred that the King 
in one of his genial after-dinner moments had 
declared that no one would, after the horrors of the 
past, deprive him of his Crown, and had backed 
his opinion by a bet. This, so the story went, 
having come to Blood's ears, he determined to 
take up the bet literally and steal the actual emblems 
of royalty. These, though interesting explanations, 
may in the absence of proof be relegated to uncon- 
firmed gossip. However, the most charitable version 
is little less astonishing. We are invited to believe 
that the King believed Blood's fairy tale, which was 
that he had laid out in the reeds close to the place 
where the King was wont to bathe intending to 
shoot him, when he had assumed the primitive garb 
of his ancestor Adam, but that when the moment 
came to pull the trigger, this hardened old soldier 
was so overcome with the glory of the King's royal 



THE CRIME OF COLONEL BLOOD 189 

body in statu natura that his finger absolutely refused 
to work. 

Charles II, though jovial, was by no means an 
idiot ; indeed he was one of the astutest monarchs 
who has sat on the throne of England. We may 
therefore perhaps brush aside all these interesting 
stories and arrive at the plain conclusion that the 
King, knowing from recent experience how precarious 
in those days was the life of a King, decided that his 
best policy was to take into his service a quondam 
and potential enemy, thereby turning a spear that 
threatened him into a defensive javelin. That 
shrewd lesson in statescraft has been followed, 
perhaps unwittingly, by the British Empire in its 
expansion. Times out of number in Asia, Africa, 
and America, the foes of one day have been on the 
next enrolled under the standards of the King of 
England, and alongside men of his own blood have 
fought the battles of the Empire. 

Blood, contrary to the report that he was a mere 
burglar, the son of a blacksmith, and so forth, was 
in fact a man of good family residing at Sarney, Co. 
Meath, and was himself at the early age of twenty- 
two made a Justice of the Peace, itself a proof of 
his social standing. His grandfather was Edmund 
Blood of Kilnaboy Castle, Co. Clare, who was at 
one time M.P. for Ennis. 

Perhaps the best estimate of Colonel Blood is that 
he was a hot-headed and fearless Irishman, who 



igo THE JEWEL HOUSE 

found it difficult to live quietly, and must ever work 
off his boundless energy on some new and often 
desperate enterprise. He was the Charles O'Malley 
of an earlier century, and demonstrated his Irish 
exuberance with rapier and pistol rather than in the 
hunting field. 

Note. — The account of Colonel Blood's attempt on the Crown is 
taken from an ancient MS., written in 1680 at the dictation of 
Sir Gilbert Talbot, the Keeper of the Jewel House at the time, 
which is now in possession of Mrs. Lowndes, of Chesham, Bucks. 
A copy of the same document is also owned by General Sir Bindon 
Blood, g.c.b., together with other interesting records of Colonel 
Blood, which he has kindly placed at the writer's disposal. 



CHAPTER XII 
THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 

'he Order of the Garter — Its date and origin — Gentlemen of the 
Blood — The three Reproaches — St. George's Chapel — The 
Garter of blue and gold— The Robes and Star— The Order of the 
Thistle — Its ancient origin — TheMantle and Riband — An expen- 
sive Order — The Order of St. Patrick — " Quis separabit " — 
The Mantle, Collar, and Star— The Order of Merit— Its origin- 
Very select — Confers no precedence — The Order of the Bath — 
The Most Honorable Order — Its great age and origin — To 
every knight a bath — Originally one, now three grades — Civil 
Knights — The Star of India — Cause of its creation — The three 
grades — The insignia — St. Michael and St. George — Curious 
origin of the Order — Its growth and expansion — " Auspicium 
Melioris " — The Badge — Order of the Indian Empire — Date 
and reason for its institution — The Mantle, Collar, Star, and 
Badge — The Royal Victorian Order — Five grades and grand 
chain — The Order of the British Empire — Had its origin In the 
Great War — Open to Ladies as well as Gentlemen — Five 
grades — The Badge and ribbon — The Crown of India — The 
Ladies' Order — Very select indeed — The Badge of diamonds, 
pearls, and turquoises — The Victoria Cross — " For Valour " — 
Costs threepence — The most highly prized decoration — Its prece- 
dence^ — The Distinguished Service Order — Its chequered career 
— The good effect of the Great War — The Military Cross and 
Distinguished Service Cross — A product of the Great War — 
The D.F.C. and A.F.C.— The D.C.M. and C.G.M.— -The M.M. 
and D.S.M. — The increase of Orders and decorations during the 
past century. 



TOGETHER with the King's Treasure in 
the Jewel House are kept the insignia 
of the Orders of Chivalry as well as 
decorations for bravery in battle. 
The oldest of these is the Order of the Garter, 

191 



1 



192 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

which was created by Edward III as far back as the 
year 1348. It is rather English that so ancient and 
highly esteemed an honour should owe its origin 
to quite a trivial incident. A lady, the Countess of 
Salisbury, who was dancing with the King at a 
Court Ball, dropped her garter. In this less emotional 
age nobody would be greatly amused if a lady 
dropped her garter ; probably few would even notice 
it, unless perchance it happened to be set with 
diamonds. But in 1348 very small jokes apparently 
went a long way, and the dropping of this particular 
lady's garter caused vast amusement amongst the 
gallants. A garter is a garter, and there is evidently 
nothing either indecent or improper or even amusing 
about it ; it is merely an article used by a few 
people now, and most people of both sexes in those 
days, to keep their stockings from slipping down. 

However, there was the garter on the floor, and 
the fine gentlemen sniggering at it, whilst the poor 
lady who owned this harmless article was covered 
with confusion. In this tremendous crisis the King 
with a courtesy lacking amongst his courtiers stepped 
forward, picked up the garter, tied it round his own 
knee, and uttered the well-known rebuke, " Honi soit 
qui mal y pense." For English Kings spoke French 
in those days. 

Edward III. was a gentleman, and it is not a little 
interesting to find that the oldest Order, not only in 
England but in the world, owes its origin to a little 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 193 

act of courtesy. In ancient days the Order was 
termed a Fraternity of Knights, and these were 
chosen by the King from amongst the most noble 
of those about the Royal person. They were not 
necessarily warriors of the sword, but must be 
Gentlemen of the Blood, such as the King thought 
fit to wear the same emblem as himself. A Gentle- 
man of the Blood, it is explained, was one who could 
J claim three descents in the noblesse, both on his 
father's and also his mother's side. 

In bestowing the Garter the exhortation used was : 
" Sir, the loving Company of the Order of the Garter 
hath received you their Brother, Lover, and Fellow, 
'and in token and knowledge of this, they give you 
and present you with this present Garter, the which 
God will that you receive and wear henceforth to his 
praise and pleasure and to the exaltation and honour 
of the said Most Noble Order and of yourself/' 

No person who had been convicted of error 
against the Christian faith, or of high treason, or 
of cowardice in face of the enemy could become a 
Knight of the Garter. And if being already a Knight 
he was guilty of either of these three " Reproaches," 
his spurs were cut off, his banner removed, and he 
was summarily expelled from the Order. The only 
Dther grave offence mentioned is for appearing with- 
Dut his Garter, the penalty for which was a fine of 
Dne mark ! Evidently, however, it was found that 
the Garter could not conveniently be worn with 






194 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

long boots, so by special enactment a Knight so 
booted might wear a blue silk riband instead. 

Later on the Order somewhat changed its charac- 
ter, for it came to be bestowed not only on persons of 
high lineage as such, but also on those who had 
reached places of eminence in the public service, 
like Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, whose father 
was a shearer. As we come still further down in 
the ages we find it established, as at present, that 
though a number of vacancies in the Order are 
reserved for peers of the realm, yet it is also con- 
ferred as the very highest distinction attainable on 
soldiers, sailors, and statesmen who have done very 
conspicuous service to the State, whatever their 
lineage. 

Exclusive of Royal personages, there are only 
twenty-five Knights of the Garter. The King is 
Sovereign of the Order, and some fourteen foreign 
Kings, English and foreign Princes, are amongst the 
Royal Knights. These include the Prince of Wales, 
the Duke of York, the Duke of Connaught, Prince 
Arthur of Connaught, the King of Spain, the King of 
Norway, the King of Italy, and the King of Denmark. 

Until recently the German Emperor figured 
amongst the Knights, but his banner was taken down 
and his name removed from the Order in knightty 
disapproval of the unknightly manner in which the 
Germans were held to have waged war on land and 
sea. The name of the Emperor of Russia has also 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 195 

disappeared from the roll, through his tragic death. 
Amongst the great soldiers who won their spurs in the 
field were the Duke of Marlborough, the Duke of 
Wellington, Earl Roberts, and Earl Kitchener. The 
only two Ladies of the Order are Queen Mary and 
Queen Alexandra. 

The Chapel of the Knights of the Garter is St. 
George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, and there may 
be seen the stalls of the Knights with their banners 
suspended over them. When a Knight dies or is 
degraded, his banner is removed and that of his 
successor is hoisted in its place, whilst a small 
brass plate is left as a lasting record of each succeed- 
ing Knight in each of the stalls. 

The Garter itself is of blue ribbon edged with 
gold, and has a buckle and pendent of gold richly 
chased. Round the Garter in gold is the motto of 
the Order, " Honi soit qui mal y pense." The 
Garter is worn below the left knee by a Knight, and 
round the left arm above the elbow by a Lady. 

The Mantle or Robe is of blue velvet, of a shade 
which has come to be known as garter blue, on the 
left breast of which the Star is embroidered. It is 
lined with white taffeta, and has a crimson velvet 
hood. The surcoat is also of crimson velvet, lined 
with w r hite taffeta. 

The Hat is a very imposing affair made of black 
velvet and of a curious shape. The plume is of 
white ostrich feathers with a tuft of black heron's 



196 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

feathers in the centre. It is fastened to the hat by a 
band of diamonds. 

The Collar consists of a string of gold and enamelled 
red roses, from which hangs a presentment of St. 
George attacking the dragon. Across his breast the 
Knight wears the broad riband of the Order, from 
which is pendent a lesser presentiment of the same 
incident, which is known as the Badge. 

The Star is eight-pointed and made of silver, though 
it is not unusual for a Knight, or his generous friends, 
to substitute a diamond star. Such a diamond Star 
was presented by his friends to Lord Roberts, and 
the Mary's of the Empire gave a similar token of 
their regard to Queen Mary. 

A Knight of the Garter is the only Knight who 
wears his Star in evening dress at a private dinner 
party. All other Knights only wear their stars on 
such special occasions as are laid down, but always 
when asked to meet royalties. In this connection 
it may be interesting to mention that though a 
Knight may belong to many Orders, he only wears 
the Star of the senior one at these parties. If he 
were in uniform he would, of course, wear all he 
possessed, as may be gathered from the photographs 
of celebrated admirals and field-marshals which are 
to be seen in the illustrated papers. 

The Order of the Thistle claims a very ancient 
origin, for though it was only organised as a knightly 
fraternity by James II in 1687, the Royal Warrant 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY i 97 

issued by that monarch mentions that " His 
Majesty's royal predecessor, Achaius King of Scots, 
did institute the most ancient and the most noble 
Order of the Thistle, under the protection of 
St. Andrew, Patron of Scotland : in commemoration 
of a signal Victory obtained by the said Achaius 
over Athelstan, King of the Saxons, after a bloody 
battle, in the time of which there appeared in the 
heavens a White Cross in the form of that upon 
which the Apostle Saint Andrew suffered martyr- 
dom/' When James II abdicated, the Order fell 
into desuetude, but was again revived by Queen 
Anne in 1703. 

The Mantle is of green velvet, with the Badge 
of the Order embroidered on the left side. The 
Riband of the Order is green. The Star of this 
Order consists of a St. Andrew's Cross laid on a 
silver star. In the centre of this combination is 
a Thistle of green and gold upon a field of gold, 
surrounded by a circle of green, bearing the motto 
of the Order, " Nemo me impure lacessit." The 
Collar is formed of thistles intermingled with 
sprigs of rue, and from it pendent is the Badge 
or Jewel, representing St. Andrew wearing a green 
gown and purple surcoat, and bearing before him a 
white enamelled cross. 

The Order consists of the Sovereign and sixteen 
Knights, one of the most recent of whom, it may be 
remembered, is Field-Marshal Earl Haig. 



198 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The Thistle was a most expensive Order in 
ancient days, the fees on admission amounting to 
£347> a ver Y considerable sum at that time. 
Edward VII reduced this to £50, which is the sum 
now paid by a Knight to the Treasury on admission 
to the Order. 

The Order of St. Patrick is of more recent origin, 
and owes its inception to George III in 1783. It 
is an Irish Order modelled on the Fraternity of the 
Knights of the Garter, and was intended to empha- 
sise the unity of the United Kingdom. To further 
which idea the new Order was given the motto, 
" Quis separabit ? " A pertinent inquiry to which 
Sinn Feiners and other extraordinary persons have 
since made constant endeavours to return a disloyal 
reply. 

The Mantle is of Irish tabbinet of a very beautiful 
shade of light blue, and is lined with white silk. 
On the right shoulder is a blue hood of the same 
material lined also with white silk. On the left 
side is embroidered the Star of the Order. The 
Collar is of gold composed of roses and harps 
alternately, and at the bottom is a harp surmounted 
by an Imperial Crown. The Badge is of gold of an 
oval form, in the centre of which is a trefoil with 
three crowns, standing on the cross of St. Patrick 
and surrounded with a wreath of shamrock. Round 
the wreath is the motto of the Order. 

The Star consists of the Cross of St. Patrick gules, 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 199 

on a field argent, surmounted by a trefoil vert, 
charged with three Imperial Crowns with a circle 
of azure containing the motto, " Quis separabit ? " 
and the date " MDCCLXXXIII " in letters of gold. 
The whole is encircled by four greater and four 
lesser rays of silver. This Star also can at the ex- 
pense of the Knight or his friends be fashioned in 
diamonds. The Riband is light blue and is worn 
across the breast from left to right, the Badge being 
worn at the tie over the left thigh. 

The Order of Merit has a somewhat curious 
origin. There were, and are, certain Englishmen 
of the very highest eminence who are averse to 
being other than plain " Mr." to the end of their 
days. Peerages, baronetcies, and knighthoods have 
no attraction for them. Such men were Mr. Joseph 
Chamberlain and Mr. Gladstone, and such to-day is 
Mr. Arthur Balfour. The feeling is a noble one 
and quite in accordance with the best traditions of 
the English character. King Edward VII, in the 
hope of finding an acceptable road, therefore in- 
stituted the Order of Merit, which carries no title 
with it and no precedence. To make the Order 
exceedingly select and highly prized the number of 
members may not exceed twenty-four, and it is 
open only to those who have performed exceptional 
meritorious services in the navy, army, art, litera- 
ture, and science. The King may also bestow the 
honour as extra members on foreigners of distinction. 



200 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The Badge of the Order consists of a Cross of red 
and blue enamel of eight points, with the addition 
of cross swords in the case of a naval or military 
officer. On it is a laurel wreath upon a centre of 
blue enamel, and the motto of the Order " For 
Merit/' in letters of gold. On the reverse, within 
laurel leaves on blue enamel, is the cipher of King 
Edward in gold. Above is the Imperial Crown 
enamelled in proper colours. The riband of the 
Order is parti-coloured, garter blue and crimson. 

One of the latest recipients of the Order is Mr. 
Lloyd George, and other distinguished members are 
Field-Marshal Viscount French, Viscount Morley, 
Sir William Crookes, Thomas Hardy, Sir Archibald 
Geikie, Mr. Arthur Balfour, and Field-Marshal Earl 
Haig. 

The Order confers no precedence, but the initials 
O.M. are authorised to be placed after the G.C.B. 
and before all other initials. What happens when 
the wife of an O.M. meets at a dinner party the 
wife of a G. C.S.I, opens up a vista of precedental 
problems which the Lord Chamberlain's office 
could alone solve. 

Next to the Garter the Order of the Bath is the 
most ancient and most honourable. Indeed, the 
Bath is entitled " The Most Honourable Order," 
and though it has precedence below the Garter, 
Thistle, and St. Patrick, it is in some respects 
superior to these, for it can only be earned in 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 201 

reward for services rendered. It is also older 
than any other Order in the world except the 
Garter, being some fifty years older than the Order 
of the Golden Fleece. It was said by a foreigner, 
[that any English title or decoration could be bought 
except the Order of the Bath. That is a somewhat 
sweeping assertion, though we ourselves allow that 
one of the blots on English public lif e is that peerages, 
baronetcies, and knighthoods can be, and are, 
bought from the political party in power. Happily 
it is still, as from the beginning, impossible to buy 
the Order of the Bath. Probably this fact, as well 
as its ancient and knightly origin, gives the Order 
its high standing, and we may venture to hope that 
it will never be otherwise. 

It is not perhaps generally known that the 
Order of the Bath literally came from the common 
or domestic hip-bath. Long before this Order 
'was instituted it was customary for warriors, who 
led in those times very strenuous days and nights, 
J fighting, eating and drinking, and making love, to 
take a warm bath the night before they were 
knighted. This ablution had partly a temporal 
,and partly a spiritual significance. It was not, 
however, till 1399 that Henry IV determined to 
make a permanent institution of an Order for 
Knights of the Sword, and named it the Order of 
the Bath. 

Space does not allow of giving the full ritual, 



202 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

which may be read elsewhere, 1 but the actual taking 
of a warm bath was one of the leading features. 
This bath was taken in the large hall adjoining 
St. John's Chapel in the White Tower, Tower of 
London. Whilst the Knight was in his bath the 
King came in accompanied by prelates and noble- 
men, and dipping his finger in the water made a 
cross on the Knight's back. 

A curious complication arose in this connection 
when a Queen, in the person of Mary I, came to the 
throne, for naturally she could not go about making 
crosses on the backs of naked young Knights. But 
both in Queen Mary's reign and in that of Queen 
Elizabeth the difficulty was tided over by delegating 
a nobleman of high rank to act for the Queen. 

On the King's departure the Knight was put into 
a bed to dry and warm, bath towels apparently 
being little known in those days. Having thus 
become dry and warm the Knight put on a monk's 
frock and then proceeded into St. John's Chapel, 
where he watched his arms all night. On the morrow 
he rode in procession with other Knights of the 
Bath before the King to Westminster. This custom 
has long been discontinued ; the Knight takes his 
bath at home as usual, and then proceeds to Bucking- 
ham Palace and is there Knighted by the King. 

Originally there was one grade in the Order, that 
of Knight, but now there are three grades : Grand 

1 See The Tower from Within, Chapter VIII. 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 203 

Cross, Knight Commander, and Companion. Up 
to 1847 only soldiers and sailors distinguished in 
war could be appointed, thus keeping up the 
knightly heritage ; moreover they must have been 
1 mentioned in despatches, and must be field officers 
or of corresponding rank in the navy. In 1847 
the Order was made more elastic so as to include 
civilians who had done eminent service to the 
State, and also it was opened to distinguished 
foreigners. The insignia, however, for a civilian 
member is different from that of a military member, 
though the ribands are the same. Here has resulted 
a very curious anomaly. After the Waterloo cam- 
paign the Order of the Bath was swept and garnished, 
so to speak, and amongst other innovations the 
insignia was remade in the shape of an eight-pointed 
cross, much on the lines of the Legion of Honour, 
inaugurated by Napoleon I. When the civil division 
was introduced in 1847 the insignia assigned was 
an oval gold medallion, having a trefoil in open 
work in the centre. This insignia, thus revived, 
must have been the old and original emblem worn 
by Knights of the Bath from very ancient days. 
An old engraving for instance of the Black Prince 
shows this very form of medallion round his neck. 

A Grand Cross of the Bath wears a robe of red 
silk with the badge of the Order embroidered on 
the left side, and the collar of the Order. He also 
alone wears the broad riband across his chest with 



204 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

the badge at the tie, and a special Star. A Knight 
Commander wears a smaller star on the left side of 
his coat, and the insignia of the Order round his 
neck. A Companion wears only the insignia, of a 
smaller size, round his neck. Members of the three 
grades carry after their names the initials G.C.B., 
K.C.B., and C.B. 

Next in precedence to the Bath comes the Star of 
India, though it dates only from 1861, an interval of 
nearly 500 years. The precedence thus given was 
probably a matter of policy after the Indian Mutiny, 
the Order having, it is expressly stated, been in- 
augurated for the purpose of rendering high honour 
to conspicuous loyalty and merit amongst the 
princes, chiefs, and people of the Indian Empire. 
The Order is, however, open not only to Indians, 
but to Englishmen who have performed distin- 
guished service in, or connected with, India. 

As in the case of the Bath, this Order is divided 
into three grades : Grand Commander, Knight 
Commander, and Companion. It will be noticed that 
the word " Commander " is used instead of " Cross " 
in the highest grade. This was out of deference to 
the Mahomedan subjects of the sovereign, for to a 
Mahomedan the cross is a Christian symbol, and as 
such, like ham and bacon, a thing to be avoided. 

The Robe of the Grand Commander is of light blue 
silk with the Badge of the Order embroidered on 
the left side. The riband, stars, and insignia are 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 205 

j 

vorn by the three grades as described for the 
Order of the Bath. 

The insignia is a very beautiful and valuable 
ewel. It consists of an onyx cameo, having in the 
:entre the effigy of Queen Victoria. This is set in an 
Dval gold band which contains the motto, " Heaven's 
Light our Guide," in diamonds. The three grades 
ire distinguished by the initials G.C.S.I., K.C.S.I., 
md C.S.I. On the death of a member of the Order, 
tiis insignia have to be returned, unless his heirs 
:onsent to purchase them. 

After the Napoleonic wars, for some reason which 
seems now somewhat obscure, the King, or the 
Government, or both, appear to have been at their 
wits' end to discover an appropriate medium by 
which marks of the royal favour might be suitably 
conferred upon the natives of Malta and the Ionian 
Islands. Out of the travail thus begotten emerged 
the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and 
St. George. Indeed, so pronouncedly foreign was it 
intended to be that instead of Companions the 
members were termed Cavalieri of the Order. After 
struggling along for fifty years in Malta and the 
Ionian Islands, an Order of little repute or standing, 
Queen Victoria decided to give it a wider scope and 
to throw it open to the whole Empire. After this 
happy inspiration the Order grew and prospered, 
first as a purely civil and colonial decoration, but 
latterly chiefly as a military Order, second only in 



206 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

value and public estimation to the Order of the 
Bath. 

The mantle or robe of a Grand Cross is of Saxon 
blue satin, lined with scarlet, having on the left side 
embroidered the Star of the Order. The Collar is 
suitably formed of a chain of Lions of England and 
Maltese Crosses, alternately. The Star has seven 
rays of silver, between each of which is a small ray 
of gold ; over all the Cross of St. George, gules. 
In the centre of the said star is a circle azure where- 
on is inscribed in letters of gold the motto of the 
Order, " Auspicium Melioris," and the figure of St. 
Michael with flaming sword trampling on Satan. 
" Auspicium Melioris " may freely be translated, 
" There is a good time coming,' ' or perhaps more 
sedately, "The promise of a better age." 

On one side of the Badge may be seen St. George 
slaying the Dragon, and on the other St. Michael 
trampling on Satan. The members of the three 
grades wear their insignia as laid down for the Bath, 
and are styled G.C.M.G., K.C.M.G., and C.M.G. 

The Order of the Indian Empire was instituted 
by Queen Victoria on January ist, 1878, to com- 
memorate the proclamation of Her Majesty as 
Empress of India, a title then first added to the 
British Crown. It was to be bestowed as a reward 
to those who from time to time were held to have 
rendered important services to the Indian Empire. 
At first it was bestowed mostly on civilians, but 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 207 

latterly its scope has been broadened, and it is now 
given for military services as well. 

It may be noticed that whereas the Order of the 
Bath, which was a purely military Order, was after 
nearly five hundred years opened to civilians, 
Orders like the Star of India, St. Michael and St. 
George, and the Indian Empire, started on exactly 
opposite lines ; they were intended for civilians 
only. But happily now all these Orders are open 
alike to soldiers, sailors, and civilians who have done 
in their own lines good service to their King and 
Empire, and that is really all that matters. 

The robe or mantle of a Grand Cross is of purple 
satin lined with white silk, having on the left side 
embroidered the Star of the Order. The Collar is 
Oriental in treatment forming a chain of elephants, 
lotus flowers, peacocks in their pride, and Indian 
roses, all in gold. The elephants nearly caused an 
upheaval in a later reign, and the story shows how 
easily insurrections are caused amongst so seemingly 
a docile people as the Indians. When the design 
for the coinage of George V was being decided 
upon it seemed not inappropriate that the King 
should be shown crowned, and wearing the mantle 
of the Order of the Indian Empire with the Collar 
round his neck. Rupees to the number of many 
hundred thousands were consequently struck with 
this presentiment of the King on them. Hardly 
were these in circulation when some lynx-eyed 



208 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

political agitator discovered that the King was 
wearing the effigy of a pig round his neck, and as 
a pig, even in silver, is anathema to a Mahomedan 
it was put about by pernicious persons that a 
calculated insult had thus been thrust in the most 
blatant and enduring form on the whole Mahomedan 
population. It was quite useless for the Govern- 
ment to assert and vow that the animal portrayed 
was not a pig but an elephant, and that if they 
looked at the original chain there could be no 
possible doubt about it. The Mahomedan agitators 
were impervious to persuasion, nothing in the wide 
world would persuade them that it was not a pig, 
probably secretly inserted by some subtle Bengali 
employed at the mint. Their co-religionists refused 
to accept or use this rupee in trade, and so the 
Government had to recall the whole issue from cir- 
culation and had it melted down and recoined with 
the obnoxious chain eliminated. 

The Star is of silver, ten pointed, and has in the 
centre a medallion of Queen Victoria, around which 
is a dark blue garter surmounted by an imperial 
crown. In gold on the garter is the motto of the 
Order, " Imperatricis Auspicus," which being broadly 
interpreted is " Honored by the Empress." 

The Badge is heraldically described as a Rose 
enamelled gules barbed vert, having in the centre 
the effigy of Queen Victoria. The subaltern who 
knows nothing of heraldry, and describes things 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 209 

bluntly as they strike him, wavers between likening 
it to a jam tart or a squashed tomato, when suddenly 
faced with this emblem on the broad chest of his 
general. Many, however, think this a very effective 
decoration emblematic of the Victorian era. 

There are, as in the case of the Bath, three grades 
of this Order, the hall marks of which are G.C.I.E., 
K.C.I.E., and CLE., and each of these in their 
degree wear stars and insignia in diminishing degree 
as with other Orders. 

The Royal Victorian Order was created by Queen 
Victoria in 1896 for bestowal by the sovereign upon 
those whose personal services it might be desired to 
recognise. There are five classes in this Order 
ranging from Knights Grand Cross to Members of 
the Fifth Class, so that all social grades can receive 
a suitable decoration. The Prince of Wales may 
be at one end and a Highland gillie at the other. 
King Edward added a Royal Victorian Chain to 
the Order which is only bestowed on very special 
occasions. There is no mantle or robe to this Order. 
The Badge is in the form of a cross of white enamel, 
in the centre of which is a medallion having Queen 
Victoria's cipher in the middle, and the word 
Victoria on a blue enamel garter round the cipher. 
Above is an imperial crown in enamel proper. 
The Stars of the Grand Cross and Knight Com- 
mander of the Order are of silver and of different 
patterns and sizes. 



210 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

The Order of the British Empire was instituted 
by George V during the Great War, for the purpose 
of rewarding those engaged in war work away from 
the fighting line. Men and women are equally 
eligible for all the five classes of this Order. It is 
understood that after the services rendered in the 
late war have received recognition the Order may 
fall into abeyance and no further addition made to 
its members. The Star is of silver with a medallion 
in the centre in red enamel on which is the figure in 
gold of Britannia seated. Around is the motto of the 
Order, " For God and the Empire. " The Badge is in 
the form of a cross of grey enamel and in the centre 
is the same medallion as on the Star. The ribbon 
of civil members is purple, and that for military 
members the same, but with a red line down the 
centre. 

The only Order reserved entirely for Ladies is the 
Crown of India. It was inaugurated at the same 
time as the Order of the Indian Empire, and to com- 
memorate the same event, the assumption of the title 
of Empress of India by Queen Victoria. The Ladies 
eligible for this Order are princesses of the Royal 
House, the wives or female relatives of Indian Princes, 
and other Indian ladies of high degree. Amongst 
Englishwomen eligibility is restricted to the wives, 
or in the case of a bachelor the sister, of the Viceroy 
of India, the Governors of Bengal, Madras and 
Bombay, and the Secretary of State for India. The 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 211 

Order is therefore very select indeed, and one may 
make a long night's march through the ballrooms 
and dining-rooms of the world without seeing one. 
The decoration itself is a beautiful one and worthy 
to be worn by any lady, however great. The Badge 
consists of an oval buckle set round with pearls 
closely touching. In the centre is the cipher of 
Queen Victoria, the " V " being set with diamonds, 
the " R " with pearls, and the " I " with turquoises. 
Above the oval buckle is an Imperial Crown enam- 
elled proper. The Badge hangs pendant from a 
light blue silk bow. The Order is worn on the left 
breast. 

A quiet-looking and quietly dressed lady was 
one day looking at the Crown Jewels, and especially 
the Orders. When she came to the Crown of India 
the official showing her round made the time- 
honoured joke that to obtain this beautiful jewel 
she had only to marry a Viceroy. " I have already 
done so," remarked the quiet lady, and passed on. 
She was the wife of a late Viceroy. 

The most highly prized decoration in the Army 
or Navy is the Victoria Cross. This was instituted 
by Queen Victoria after the Crimean War for the 
purpose of rewarding individual cases of conspicuous 
gallantry in presence of the enemy. Hitherto the 
only war decoration that could be won by an 
individual solider or sailor was the Order of the Bath, 
and by the rules of that order no officer below the 



212 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

rank of major, or of equivalent rank in the Navy, 
could be recommended for it. Queen Victoria's 
intention was that the Victoria Cross should be open 
to all from admiral or general to bugler boy or sailor 
boy. " Neither rank, nor long service, nor wounds, 
nor any other circumstance or condition whatsoever 
save the merit of conspicuous bravery (in the 
presence of the enemy) shall be held to establish a 
sufficient claim to the honour." * 

The Victoria Cross, like all decorations, has had 
its ups and downs, but there is not the least doubt 
that during the Great War it has upheld its highest 
traditions. During its middle history the decoration 
was perhaps more popular with the public than 
with the military, for soldiers in action saw how 
often it was a pure matter of luck that one should get 
the Cross and another not. The interpretation of 
the Warrant also varied, for whereas some generals 
in the field were very chary about recommending 
anyone, others were most liberal. In the South 
African War a sumptuary law was passed that no 
one above the rank of captain should be recom- 
mended, and thus several well-known officers of 
higher rank were ruled out and given the Bath 
instead. This probably came from reading the first 
part of the Warrant which emphasises the eligibility 
of the junior ranks for the Bath, without reading 
the context above quoted. 

1 Victoria Cross Warrant, 1856. 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 213 

Again at one period nobody could hope to get 
the Victoria Cross unless he had assisted a wounded 
man under fire ; it came for a time at any rate 
to take the position of a life-saving medal on land, 
as is the Humane Society's medal for saving life 
from the water. Indeed so obsessed did some 
become with this strange doctrine that Lord Roberts 
himself had the greatest difficulty in obtaining the 
Victoria Cross for two very gallant officers at 
Kabul in 1879, because their gallantry had no con- 
nection with carrying wounded men out of action. 

With these vagaries before them it is not to be 
wondered at that the Victoria Cross for some years 
lost its value amongst officers, indeed it was openly 
discussed whether it would not be wiser to reserve 
the Cross for the N.C.O/s and men in the ranks 
only, and to make all officers ineligible. This on 
the grounds that all, or anyway the majority of 
British officers, are brave and that it was a pity to 
draw invidious distinctions. The Great War has, 
however, as we have seen, thoroughly rehabilitated 
the Victoria Cross, for though there certainly are 
hundreds who with better luck would have received 
it, yet those who have obtained it have set a very 
high standard of gallantry in face of the enemy. 

The Cross itself is familiar to all. It is a plain 
bronze Maltese Cross, with a Lion standing on a 
Crown in the centre, and the words " For Valour " 
inscribed beneath. The actual cost of the Cross is 



214 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

threepence. The ribbon is red for all branches of 
His Majesty's Service whether on sea, or land, or the 
air. When the ribbon is worn in undress a miniature 
V.C. is placed on it, and should there be clasps to 
the V.C. for each one a miniature is added. Until 
recently the Navy had a blue ribbon, but when the 
Air Force came into being the King thought it 
better to have one and the same ribbon for all. 

In precedence the Victoria Cross ranks before all 
decorations and medals and is worn on the right of 
all. Thus in addressing a letter to one who has the 
Victoria Cross the letters V.C. precede all others, 
even if the addressee is a Knight of the Garter or a 
Grand Cross of the Bath. All those not of com- 
missioned rank who are decorated with the Victoria 
Cross are given a special pension of £10 a year, 
and for each bar £5 extra per annum. 1 

The Distinguished Service Order was inaugurated 
in 1886 by Queen Victoria, and at the time the 
general impression in the services was that it was 
intended to be in the nature of a second grade of 
the Victoria Cross. This was a mistake, for the 
Order was really instituted as a second grade to 
the Bath. Experience in our numberless small wars 
had shown that many junior officers performed dis- 
tinguished service, but being ineligible for the Bath 
got nothing. The new Order was to be granted to 
officers irrespective of rank for " meritorious and 
distinguished service in war." 

1 These have been lately considerably increased. 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 215 

From the very beginning, in the Burmah War 
of 1886-87, a very wide interpretation of these 
words was used, and though the D.S.O. was 
given for deeds of gallantry and devotion in 
action it was also given to those who had done 
meritorious service far far away from the sound of 
guns. With this precedent the Order ran downhill 
at a great pace till it got to be known as the " Doing 
Something-or-Other Order." All sorts and condi- 
tions of people got it, sometimes with but the 
faintest glimmer of merit or distinction. The 
Great War has, however, to a great extent improved 
the status of the Order, and if only the present high 
standard is maintained it will undoubtedly rise to 
the position it was originally intended to occupy. 

The decoration is in the form of an eight-pointed 
gold cross the wings of which are covered with 
white enamel. In the centre is the Imperial Crown 
in gold on a red enamel background round which 
is a wreath of green enamel laurels. The ribbon is 
crimson with narrow borders of blue. If an officer 
gets a clasp to his D.S.O. a small silver rose is 
placed on the ribbon when worn in undress uniform 
and an additional rose is added for each subsequent 
clasp. The decoration is open to officers of all 
ranks both in the Army and the Navy. 

A decoration which came into being during the 
Great War is that of Companions of Honour. This 
decoration, like the Order of Merit, is bestowed on 



216 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

those who for various reasons are averse to receiving 
any reward from the Sovereign which carries a title. 

The Military Cross and its naval equivalent, the 
Distinguished Service Cross, were products of the 
Great War. In former wars we had engaged a few 
tens of thousands of fighting men, but in the Great 
War we had seven million soldiers and sailors en- 
gaged all over the world. 1 In the great battles that 
took place during four and a half years of this 
gigantic conflict thousands of officers distinguished 
themselves, yet all could not be given the Vic- 
toria Cross or the Distinguished Service Order. 
A third decoration for gallantry thus became im- 
perative. The Military Cross for the Army and 
the Distinguished Service Cross for the Navy 
were the outcome of this demand, and all officers 
and warrant officers are elegible for them ; they 
are both of silver, but differ somewhat in design. 
The ribbons are somewhat similar, but in the case 
of the Military Cross the centre stripe is purple 
and the two outside ones white ; whilst with the 
Distinguished Service Cross, the white stripe is in 
the middle and the two outer ones are purple. W T hen 
an officer or warrant officer earns one or more clasps, 
a small silver rose is placed on the ribbon for each 
clasp. 

During the Great War the gallantry and achieve- 
ments of the Air Force called imperatively for 
I Eighteen million medals are in course of being struck. 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 217 

special recognition. This was met by instituting 
two decorations open only to the Air Force. These 
are the Distinguished Flying Cross, for bestowal 
upon officers in the Royal Air Force for acts of 
gallantry when flying in active operations against the 
enemy; and the Air Force Cross, for bestowal on 
officers of the Royal Air Force for acts of courage 
or devotion to duty when flying, although not in 
active operations, against the enemy. 

We now come to those decorations which are 
reserved for warrant and non-commissioned officers 
and the rank and file, and for which no officer as such 
is eligible. Naturally any soldier or sailor who had 
won one of these decorations when in the ranks or 
the lower deck would carry it on with him and 
wear it on all occasions if he subsequently received 
a commission. The first of these is for the Army, 
the Distinguished Conduct Medal, familiar to all as 
the D.C.M. ; and for the Navy the Conspicuous 
Gallantry Medal, generally known as the C.G.M. 
The second pair under the category are the Military 
Medal for the soldiers, and the Distinguished Service 
Medal for the sailors. These are known as the M.M. 
and D.S.M. 

All these four medals are round silver insignia 
of the familiar size and shape of a war medal. On 
one side they have the King's head and shoulders, in 
a Field-Marshal's uniform, for the Army, and in 
that of an Admiral of the Fleet for the Navy. On the 



218 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

other side is the designation of the medal. Should 
a soldier or a sailor be granted one of these medals a 
second time the fact would be marked by the addi- 
tion of a silver clasp. 

The ribbons of these decorations are : For the 
D.C.M. red and blue. The D.S.M. (Naval) has blue 
and white. The ribbon for the Military Medal is 
red white and blue, and that of the C.G.M. (Naval) 
blue and white. 

It will be noticed that since 1856 the number 
of British Orders and decorations has very greatly 
increased. At that date there were only the 
Garter, the Thistle, St. Patrick, the Bath, and 
the Michael and George, and only the last two of 
these was open to ordinary persons. Now there 
are upwards of twenty Orders and decorations 
open to those who do good and valiant service for 
the Empire in peace and war. As is only natural, 
opinions are divided on the subject. Several 
millions of His Majesty's subjects who have not 
received one of these insignia of honour decry the 
whole system, and say it is debasing to wear decora- 
tions for doing one's duty. Several millions more 
hope, given the opportunity, to earn one of them ; 
whilst the few thousands who have received them 
feel, in a greater or less degree, a certain warm 
sense of gratification in that their King and country 
have discovered what fine fellows they are. 

The increase in the number of Orders and deco- 



THE ORDERS OF CHIVALRY 219 

rations is mainly due to the great extension of 
the Empire, the wars both great and small that 
have been waged during the past seventy years, and 
the impossibility of rewarding the greatly increased 
numbers of those whom the King delighteth to 
honour with practically only one Order open for 
a restricted distribution, the Order of the Bath. 
After so great a war as the Great War, wherein many 
millions of men of British blood were engaged, 
naturally all the now existing Orders are full to over- 
flowing with members and supernumerary members, 
but as the river runs low after the heavy rains are 
over, so will the flow of honours decrease to the 
small stream which in peace time can alone keep up 
their value. 



APPENDIX A 

KEEPERS OF THE JEWEL HOUSE 1 

Abbot and Monks of Westminster, 1042-66, in 

the reign of Edward the Confessor. 
First official Keeper of the Regalia, 12 16, in the 

reign of Henry III. 
Bishop of Carlisle, 1230, in the reign of Henry III. 
John de Flete, 1337, in the reign of Edward III. 
Robert de Mildenhall, 1347, m tne r eig n of Edward 

III. 
Thomas Chitterne, 1418, in the reign of Henry VI. 
" The two Cary's," both Privy Councillors. 
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, 1531-34, in the 

reign of Henry VIII. 
John Williams, Lord Williams, i539~44. in tne 

reign of Henry VIII. 
Richard Wilbraham of Woodhey, Cheshire, 1547 (?) 

to 1553, in the reign of Edward VI. 
Marquis of Winchester, 1553, in the reign of 

Edward VI. Handed over the Crown Jewels to 

Lady Jane Grey. 

1 Named at various periods, Master and Treasurer of the Jewel 
House, Keeper of the Regalia, Keeper of the Crown Jewels, and as 
now Keeper of the Jewel House. 

221 



222 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

John Astley, 1558-95, in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
beth. 
Sir Henry Mildmay, 1622 (?)-i66o, in the reigns of 

James I, Charles I, and interregnum. 
Sir Gilbert Talbot, 1661-91, in the reign of Charles II, 

James II, and William and Mary. 
Sir Francis Lawley, 1691-97, in the reign of William 

and Mary. 
Heneage Mountague, 1697-98, in the reign of 

William and Mary. 
Charles Godfrey, 1698-1716, in the reigns of William 

and Mary, Queen Anne, and George I. 
Hon. James Brudenell, 1716-30, in the reigns of 

George I and George II. 
Charles Townshend, Lord Lynn, 1730-39, in the 

reign of George II. 
William Neville, Lord Abergavenny, 1739-45, in 

the reign of George II. 
John Campbell, Lord Glenorchie, 1745-56, in the 

reign of George II. 
Sir Richard Lyttleton, 1756-63, in the reigns of 

George II and George III. 
Henry Vane, Earl of Darlington, 1763-82, in the 

reign of George III. 
In 1782 the Office was suppressed and its duties trans- 

f erred to the Lord Chamberlain (Stat. 22, Geo. Ill, 

c. 82). The Office was again revived early in the 

nineteenth century. At the Coronation of George IV, 

Thomas Baucutt Mash acted as " Officer of the 

fewel House." 



THE KEEPERS OF THE REGALIA 223 

Lieut-Colonel Charles Wyndham (late Scots Greys), 

1852-72, in the reign of Queen Victoria. 
Colonel John Cox Gawler (late 73rd Foot), 1872-82, 

in the reign of Queen Victoria. 
Lieut.-General George Dean-Pitt, C.B., 1882-83, in 

the reign of Queen Victoria. 
Captain Arthur John Loftus (late 10th Hussars) 

1883-91, in the reign of Queen Victoria. 
Lieut.-General Sir Michael Biddulph, G.C.B., 1891- 

96, in the reign of Queen Victoria. 
Lieut.-General Sir Frederick Middleton, K.C.M.G., 

C.B., 1896-98, in the reign of Queen Victoria. 
General Sir Hugh Gough, V.C., G.C.B., 1898-1909, 

in the reigns of Queen Victoria and Edward VII. 
General Sir Robert Low, G.C.B., 1909-n, in the 

reign of Edward VII. 
General Sir Arthur Wynne, G.C.B., 1911-17, in the 

reign of George V. 
Major-General Sir George Younghusband, K.C.M.G., 

K.C.I.E., C.B., 1917 (present holder), in the reign 

of George V. 



APPENDIX B 

A letter written by Queen Anne Boleyn, when a 
prisoner in the Tower in the early part of May, 1536, 
to Henry VIII asking for mercy. This letter was 
apparently intercepted by Thomas Cromwell, Earl 
of Essex, and never reached the King. After Essex 
in his turn had been executed, some years later, 
Queen Anne Boleyn's letter was found in his port- 
folio amongst other papers. 

From Queen Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII : 

" Sir, — Your Grace's displeasure and my im- 
prisonment are things so strange unto me as what to 
write or what to excuse I am altogether ignorant. 

" Whereas you send unto me (willing me to 
confess a truth, and so to obtain your favour) by 
such an one whom you know to be mine antient 
professed enemy. I no sooner conceived this mes- 
sage by him than I rightly conceived your meaning : 
and if, as you say, confessing a truth indeed may 
procure my safety, I shall with all willingness and 
duty perform your command. 

" But let not your Grace ever imagine that your 
poor wife will ever be brought to acknowledge a 
fault where not so much as a thought thereof pro- 

224 



LETTER FROM QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN 225 

ceeded. And to speak a truth, never prince had a 
wife more loyal in all duty and in all true affection, 
than you have ever found in Anne Boleyn ; with 
which name and place I could willingly have con- 
tented myself, if God and your Grace's pleasure had 
been so pleased. Neither did I at any time so far 
forget myself in my exaltation or received queenship, 
but that I always looked for such an alteration as 
now I find : for the ground of my preferment being 
on no surer foundation than your Grace's fancy, the 
least alteration, I knew, was fit and sufficient to 
draw that fancy to some other subject. You have 
chosen me from low estate to be your queen and 
companion, far beyond my desert or desire. If then 
you found me worthy of such honour, good your 
Grace, let not any light fancy or bad counsel of mine 
enemies, withdraw your princely favour from me ; 
neither let that stain, that unworthy stain, of a dis- 
loyal heart towards your good Grace, ever cast so 
foul a blot on your most dutiful wife and the infant 
princess your daughter. 

" Try me good King, but let me have a lawful 
trial ; and let not my sworn enemies sit as my 
accusers and my judges ; yea, let me receive an open 
trial, for my truth shall fear no open shame. Then 
shall you see either my innocency cleared, your 
suspicions and conscience satisfied, the ignominy 
and slander of the world stopped, or my guilt 
lawfully declared ; so that whatsoever God or you 



226 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

may determine of me, as your Grace may be freed 
from an open censure ; and mine offence being so 
openly proved, you Grace is at liberty, both before 
God and man, not only to execute your worthy 
punishment on me, as an unlawful wife, but to follow 
your affection already settled on that party for whose 
sake I am now as I am, whose name I could some 
good while since have pointed unto ; your Grace 
not being ignorant of my suspicion therein. 

" But if you have already determined of me ; 
and that not only my death, but an infamous slander, 
must bring you the joying of your desired happiness ; 
then I desire of God that He will pardon your great 
sin therein, and likewise mine enemies, the instru- 
ments thereof ; and that He will not call you to a 
straight account for your unprincely and cruel usage 
of me, at His general judgment seat, where both you 
and myself must shortly appear ; and in whose 
judgment I doubt not, whatever the world may 
think of me, mine innocence shall be openly known 
and sufficiently cleared. 

" My last and only request shall be, that myself 
may only bear the burden of your Grace's dis- 
pleasure, and that it may not touch the innocent 
souls of those poor gentlemen, who, as I understand, 
are likewise in straight imprisonment for my sake. 
If ever I have found favour in your sight, if ever the 
name of Anne Boleyn hath been pleasing in your 
ears, then let me obtain this request ; and I will so 



LETTER FROM QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN 227 

leave to trouble your Grace any further ; with mine 
earnest prayers to the Trinity to have your Grace in 
His good keeping, and to direct you in all your actions. 
From my doleful prison in the Tower, this 6th of 
May. Your most loyal and ever faithful wife. 

" Anne Boleyn." 



APPENDIX C 

Complete list of the Regalia in the Jewel House in 
a.d. 1920. 

I. Crowns and Diadem — 

1. King Edward the Confessor's Crown. 

2. The Imperial State Crown. 

3. The Imperial Indian Crown. 

4. Crown of Queen Mary of Modena. 

5. Crown of Queen Mary, Consort of King 
. George V. 

6. Diadem of Queen Mary of Modena. 

7. Crown of the Prince of Wales (as eldest son 

of the King). 

II. Sceptres and Rods — 

1. The King's Royal Sceptre. 

2. The King's Sceptre with the Dove, or Rod 

of Equity. 

3. The Queen's Sceptre with the Cross. 

4. The Queen's Sceptre with the Ivory Dove. 

5. James I's Sceptre with the Dove. 

6. St. Edward's Staff. 

228 



COMPLETE LIST OF THE REGALIA 229 

[II. Orbs— 

1. The King's Orb. 

2. The Queen's Orb. 

[V. Rings — 

1. The King's Coronation Ring. 

2. The Queen's Coronation Ring. 

3. Queen Victoria's Coronation Ring. 

V. Swords — 

1. The King's Jewelled State Sword. 

2. The Sword of State. 

3. The Sword Spiritual. 

4. The Sword Temporal. 

5. Curtana, or the Sword of Mercy. 

i 

VI. Spurs and Bracelets — 

1. St. George's Gold Spurs. 

2. Gold Bracelets. 

VII . Maces— 

1. Charles II. 

2. Do. 

3. James II. 

4. Do. 

5. William and Mary. 

6. Do. 

7. Do. 

8. George I. 



230 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

VIII. Ecclesiastical Plate — 

i. The Ampulla, or Golden Eagle. 

2. The Anointing Spoon. 

3. The Royal Baptismal Font of Charles II, 

4. Alms Dish of William and Mary. 

5. Chalice Do. 

IX. State Trumpets and Banners — 

1. Fifteen Silver State Trumpets. 

2. Twenty Bannerets. 



X. 



Royal Gold Plate — 




1. 


Queen Elizabeth's 


i Salt Cellar. 


2. 


King 


Charles II's 


Salt Cellar (State Cellar) 


3- 




Do. 




4- 




Do. 




5- 




Do. 




6. 




Do. 




7- 




Do. 




8. 




Do. 




9- 




Do. 




10. 




Do. 




11. 




Do. 




12. 




Do. 




13- 




Do. 




14- 


King 


Charles II's 


Wine Fountain. 


15- 


Twelve Salt Spoons. 



16. Two Tankards (George IV). 



COMPLETE LIST OF THE REGALIA 231 

XL Other Plate and Valuables — 

1. The Maundy Dish of Charles II. 

2. King James II's Monde. 

3. Model of Koh-i-Nur Diamond with original 

setting. 

4. Model of Cullinan Diamond as found. 

5. Steel hammer and chisel, used in cutting the 

Cullinan Diamond. 



APPENDIX D 

" OF THE JEWELL HOUSE " 

Copy of MSS. written or dictated by Sir Gilbert 
Talbot, Kt., appointed Keeper of the Jewel House, 
a.d. 1660-61, by Charles II. The original is in the 
possession of Mrs. Ethel M. Lowndes, The Bury, 
Chesham, Bucks. 

Of the Jewell 
House 
With the ancient 
rights 
belonging 
to the Maister & 

Treasurer 
thereof. 

The Maister of y e Jewell H. holdeth his place by 

Patent, for life under the Broad Seale of England 

to enjoy all the perquisites and privileges w ch any 

of his predecessors at any time enjoyed 

which are as follows : 

232 



Tn£ ciJdifFer oj ij.ftweli }f: 

\\o\dtlh his placebuTatenljort^ 
under the : $ road 'Seale ojE^iaul 
to entcif aM the perqubiies,and prli 
: v i ledqes, w. myo) h k predecejiets 
at- &na Ume, tnlcjed . 

tvhicn areas yellow. 



l.~ JlTii p)p>- per an: cut oj the 

Sxcheeauet, 
2- ATlX bit oj UJoiMe iipfrjfy 

A km. 
3'- ^oo.pcran: ontQJ ^.^emfashc 

V aukft money . 
4. ,HnC Carry in j oj'fresemtsh 

£rnlalrsndcwrs . 
s . 'ike Smalt presents atjfem yww 

fTyde. 

6. - AnUtntlyTrMutiirejfiCfwnV 



FACSIMILE OF A PAGE FROM SI 



R GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS., l68o 



T! • - iQ.ipoid upon synnq cjtkt 

removethjjor % omnt^ocA^ani. ' 

two carti -for k'ti ojficen ■ 
14; 1 XecedcnCZ. vn QurfHkmojclomc. \ 
tf. InvtlitLf oj the drawing rev mi ■ 
w. "Kobcs at the Coronation . 

17- InTicajfiCn place before all 
the Judjei . 



FACSIMILE OF A PAGE FROM SIK GILBERT fALBOl's MSS., 1680 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 233 

1. A Fee of *>o£ per. an. out of the Exchequer. 

2. A Table of 14 double dishes per diem. 

3- 300^" per. an. out of y e New years guift money. 

4. The carrying of Presents to Embassadours. 

5. The small presents at New yeare's Tide. 

6. Anciently Treasurers of y e Chamber w ch office 

was a branch of y e Jewell H. 

7. Frequently Privy Counsaillers as Cromwell & y e 

two Caryes. 

8. Right to buy, keep & present all his Ma tys 

Jewells (when given). 

9. Choice of his under Officers. 

10. Choice of the King's and Queene's Goldsmiths 

& Jewellers. 

11. 2o£ in gold, upon signing of the Goldsmiths 

Bill. 

12. Lodgings in all y e King's Houses. 

13. A close waggon (when y e Court removeth) for 

his owne goodes ; and two carts for his 
officers. 

14. Precedence in Courts & Kingdome. 

15. Priviledg of the drawing roome. 

16. Robes at the Coronation. 

17. In Procession place before all the Judges. 

18. He putteth on, and taketh off the King's Crowne. 



234 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

19. He keepeth all the Regalia. 

20. He hath lodgings etc. in y e Tower. 

21. A servant there to keep y e Regalia. 

22. He hath noe superior officer. 

23. He fournisheth plate to Embassad rs and all the 

great e officers. 

24. He remandeth it when Embassad rs returne ; & 

officers remove or dye. 

25. He provideth a Garter & plaine George for Kn* 

of y e Garter. 

26. The total of his Retrenchm ts w cb will serve to 

justify y e following preambe from vanity. 

Note. — The above rights and perquisites were handed 
over by Sir H. Mildmay to Sir Gilbert Talbot in 
a.d. 1660. 

Note. — These were the rights, privileges and emolu- 
ments of his predecessors, and Sir Gilbert Talbot 
goes on to relate how they had been curtailed 
and withdrawn. 

S r Gilbert Talbot entered into the service of 
K. Charles y e j st at Venice an : 1637, an( i served 
his Ma ty XI yeares first as Resident at 40 s . p. 
diem till the yeare 44, then as Envoye at $£ per 
diem ; besides extraordinairies in both qualityes. 

But by reason of the war, his Ma ty was not able to 
send him any supply in soe much that he was 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 235 

forced to spend of his owne, and borrow of y e 
English and Dutch merchants to the value of 
i300o£ which his then Ma ty promised to repay 
with y e interest w ch hath since trebled y e princi- 
pall. 

But y e war still growing more obstinate and S r G. 
Talbot not able to continue the expence begged 
leave of his M ty to returne into England to 
represent his condition w ch was graunted him 
for 6 moneths ; in Aug st 44, he found the K g at 
Bucannon and followed his Ma ty in the Army ; 
till in 45 he was sent back to Venice, upon an 
extraordinary occasion ; with leave to returne 
when he should think fitt, because his Ma ty was 
not yet able to maintain him abroad. 

At his returne into England, in 46 his Ma ty was 
pleased (a little before he went to the Scottish 
Army thus to recommend him to the Prince 
(now K g ). 

Son here is a gentleman who hath served me fayth- 
fully many yeares ; and I have never bin able, 
hitherto, to doe anything for him. I therefore 
charge you to take notice of him & to see him 
well rewarded if I should not live to doe it 
myself. 

The K g going away to the Scotts ; the Prince into 
y e West, and Oxford surrendered S r G. Talbot 
had his liberty upon those Articles. But the 
Pr : being forced to fly : the K g sold into the 



236 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

hands of the English : and afterwards barbar- 
ously murdered ; Sir G. Talbot offered to goe 
over to y e p re sent King in Paris ; but was com- 
manded to stay in London to corrispond with 
S r Rob 1 Long then Secretary, and to act for his 
Ma tyes service on this side of y e water. For 
w ch being afterwards discovered by Tom Cooke, 
he was made close prisoner in Glocester ; and 
there examined by Comif srs upon 6 articles of 
high Treason (as they were pleased to terme 
them). But they having noe proof es to make 
good any one article ag st him he had his liberty 
upon bayle ; went over into France to his Ma ty and 
followed him in all his exile, till his restauration. 

When every man (upon the prospect of his Ma tys 
recall) was putting in for employment, S r G. 
T. ; by the assistance of the D. of Ormond, 
obtained the graunt of Maister of the Jewell- 
house forfeited by the treason of S r Hen : 
Mildmay and the reversion graunted by the 
Martyr King to S r Rob 1 Howard (brother of the 
old E. of Berkshire) vacated by his death. 

Upon his Ma tys returne S r G. Talbot sent to S r Hen : 
Mildmay (at the time prisoner in Dover Castle) 
to lett him understand that the K g had bestowed 
the Jewell-house upon him ; and to know if he 
would peaceably surrender his Patent ? he 
returned answere That he could not give in the 
patent because it lay buryed amongst many con- 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 237 

fused papers But he was ready before a Maist r 
of Chancery to make a formall resignation of the 
place which he accordingly performed 

And promised moreover that if S r G. T. would 
obteine from his Ma ty a pardon of his life he 
would give him half his estate. Whereunto S r 
G. T. reply'd that since he had soe freely resigned 
his office, he would endeavour to serve him, 
without any other condition : but desired him 
to send him a note of all the perquisites belonging 
to the place, w ch he did and they are those w ch 
are specif yed in y e j st page and shall hereafter 
be enlarged upon as they lye in order. 

S r G. Talbot's patent being passed (not w th out 
strong opposition from the L d Chancell r Hyde, 
who had shewed himself his enemy upon other 
occasions ; and had designed the Jewell-house 
for a Presbyterian friend) he took possession of 
his lodgings ; and entered upon the execution of 
his office. 

When the Chancell r found that he could not obstruct 
the patent, his next endeavour was to clip the 
profitts of the place, and therein his malice pre- 
vailed as will appeare when y e perquisites are 
treated of. 

The perquisites belonging to y e M r are as follows : 

1. A Fee of 5o£ per an payable half yearely out of the 

Exchequer : which y e Maist r used to call for but 



238 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

once in two yeares, that he might ioo£ together : 
but when S r George Downing became Secretary, 
to the L ds Commiss rs of the Treasury, he (be- 
cause there is a small fee due to the Secretary 
for drawing up the order to the Exchequer) 
enioned 1 all fees to take out separate orders for 
every half yeare : w ch exacting invention is still 
kept on foote : although the fee for every order 
is exorbitant. 
2. A Table of 14 double dishes per diem with bread 
beer wine etc., or 35 s - per diem board wages, if 
not served in kind. But y e L d Chanc r who 
sought all occasions to preiudice the Maist r of 
the Jewell H. put the K g upon retrenchm* of 
some of the tables : and went in person to the 
Greenecloth (although altogether unqualifyed as 
being noe Officer there) and cutt off the Maist re 
table, and y e Groome-porters, for company, 
that it might not look like personall malice ; in 
lieu whereof they allowed each of them i2o£ 
p. an : board wages : and for this they plended 
noe other ground, or shadow of reason, but 
because it appeared in theyre books, that once 
when the treasury was exhausted S r H. Mildmay 
proposed to the K s the retrenchment of the 
tables & desired his Ma ty to begin with his. 
This the L d Chancell rs Law, & S r H. Woods 
philosophy made an argument to cutt off the 
dyet from the Jewell H. 

1 Enjoined. 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 239 

And although S r G. Talbot's patent gave him aU the 
rights that any of his Predecessors at any time 
enioyed, there was noe releife to be had in theyre 
Chancery. 

S r G. Talbot this theyre proceeding to his Ma ty , but 
the Chancellor yet swayed all things absolutely ; 
and there lay noe appeale from him. 

For one yeare after they allowed him his dyet, at 
the greate Festivalls (Christmass, Easter, and 
Whitsontide) : but that was thought too much 
and retrenched likewise. 

3- 3°°£ P- an : out of the money presented by the 
Nobility, to the King, at new-yeare's-tyde ; 
which usually amounted to 3000^. And the 
profitt ariss to the Maister by I2 d in the £, and 
the advantage of the gold ; for it was ever given 
away and payd in silver, till Mr. May came to 
the privy Purse, who gott it annexed to his office : 
by w ch meanes that branch was cutt off from y e 
Maist r of the Jewell H. because the K g was 
neither to pay poundage, nor allowance for gold, 
and y e Maist r had noe consideration for it, till 
upon the tender of severall petitions, his Ma ty in 
an. 77 gave him, by Privy Seale 400^ p. an : out 
of the new-yeare's-guift money, during pleasure. 

4. The Maist r of the Jewell H. received the value 
of 30o£ p. an. (cofhunibg annis) by carrying 
presents to Embassadours, till the j st D. of 



240 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

Buckingham (who was an enemy to S r H. 1 
Mildmay) prevailed w th the K g first, to make all j 
his presents in iewells (and not in plate as had 
ever, till then, bin accustomed) and next to send 
them by the Maister of y e Ceremonyes (an office 
erected but in K g James his time). 

Thus S r H. Mildmay (by his professed ignorance in 
iewels, had the buying of the iewels taken from 
the place, & usurped into the hands of the L d 
Chamberlan and the presenting of them, by his 
provocation of the D. of Buck : transferred to 
the M r of y e Ceremonyes. Nay, and the keeping 
of all the private Jewells, is now in the hands of 
the page of his Ma tys closet : although the L d 
Chamberlaine in what he buyeth, nor the sayd 
page in what he keepeth, hath any check upon 
him to controll the account of the one, or the 
guardianship of y e other, whereas the account of 
the Jewell H. is under the inspection of the L d 
Treasurer, or a body of Comiss rs when the K 
pleaseth to appoint them. 

Thus while S r G. Talbot is Maister and Treasurer of 
his Ma tyes iewells & plate, he is made a stranger 
to all but y e Regalia, which alone is in his keeping. 

v. The Maist r of the iewell H. hath 28 ounces of 
gilt plate every new year : and the small presents 
w ch are sent to y e K g anciently valued at 30 or 
4o£ together with the purses wherein the Lords 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 241 

present theyre gold (w ch were wont to be worth 
30 or 40 s each. These the L d Manchester (when 
L d Chamberlaine) claimed as due to him : but 
S r G. Talbot proved them to be his right : yet 
told his L p that if he liked any of them he should 
have them, as a guift, not as a due. 

The E. of St. Alban, who succeeded him, revived 
y e same pretence, but was opposed by the 
Maist r and desisted. Yet usually the Maist r 
gives the L d Chamberl : 5 or 6 at the Cupboard, 
as he doth to other Officers & freinds y 1 ask. 

The profitt of allowance upon the ounces (issued out 
by guift from his Ma ty ) S r G. T. gave (for his 
time) to his under Officers : and the carrying of 
presents to Resid ts & Agents when made in plate, 
chaines or medals. 

vi. Anciently the M r of y e iewell H. was Treasurer 
of the Chamber, till that branch was taken over, 
and made an office apart : and is now five times 
more beneficiall than the iewell house : all the 
regulation of expence being applyed to the 
remaining parts of the perquisites of the iewell 
house ; the fees of y e treasur r of the Chamber 
and M r of y e ceremonyes being left entire. 

vii. The Maisters of the iewell H. have bin 
frequently privy Counsaillers, such was Crom- 
well 1 in y e time of H. 8. And appointed L d 
Deputyes of Irel d as the two Caryes. 

viii. It belonged to the M r of y e iewell house to 

1 Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, temp. Henry VIII. 
Q 



242 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

buy, keep, & present all y e iewells and plate that 
belonged to his Ma ty but now that right is 
invaded, see number 4. 

ix. The Maister hath the choice of all his inferior 
Officers ; and y e power of suspending or dis- 
placing them upon their misbehaviours. 

When he first took possession of his Office, he called 
to one of his Yeomen for the books which were in 
y e keeping of old Layton, who then attended in 
his moneth ; the peevish old man who had lived 
long in y e office refused to deliver them where- 
upon Sir G. Talbot shewed him the words of his 
patent ; but he remained obstinate and insolent 
& S r Gilbert suspended him for waiting and 
acquainted his Ma ty with it who very well 
approved of what he had done : but y e passionate 
old man for very vexation of spirit dyed. His 
sonne had the impudence to claime his father's 
place ; and upon refusall to threaten an appeale 
to the K g wherewith S r G. Talbot acquainted his 
Ma ty who sayd, if he came, he should receive an 
answere. 

After this Serg* Painter (without any application to 
S r Gilbert) went boldly to the K g and begged the 
reversion : and his Ma ty graciously graunted it. 
Painter thus armed came to S r Gilb* and de- 
manded to be admitted. S r Gilbert asked whence 
he derived his claime ? he sayd : the K g given 
it to him. 

S r Gilbert reply'd, he would receive y e K gs pleasure 






SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 243 

from himself ; and going to his Ma ty asked him, 
if he had appointed Painter to succeed Layton : 
he sayd, yes. S r , sayd S r GinV it belongeth to 
me, to choose my owne Officers, because y e trust 
of all y e Ma tys plate is by me committed to them. 
Well, sayd y e K. for this time let it pass, and I 
will invade y r right noe more. S r Gilbert desired 
to know if his Ma ty would be security for all y e 
plate intrusted in his hands ? Noe indeed will I 
not said the K g and if that be requisite I recom- 
mend him not. S r sayd S r Gilbert this expostula- 
tion is onely to show my right ; and y e danger 
of admitting any without security : but since y r 
Ma ty hath made choice of him, he shall stand, 
and accordingly he admitted him. 

x. The appointment of y e Goldsmiths and 
Jewellers both to the K g and Queene valued at 
8oo£ each : (as the yeomens & Groomes places 
are when vacant). 

When his Ma ty * came first into England Coronell 
Blage (a groome of y e bedchamb r ) begged the 
nomination of the Goldsmith & contracted w* 
alderman Backwell for 8oo£ but the alderman, 
when he understood y* it was the Maist rs right, 
quitted his bargaine & M r Blage deserted his 
pretension. 

ri. The Maister used to receive 2o£ in gold from 
the goldsmith upon y e signing of his annuall bill : 
(and this was transmitted in the list of perquisites 

1 King Charles II. 



244 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

from S r H. Mildmay to S r G. Talbot ; yet would 
he never require the same, least it might look like 
a bribe to y e Maist r to cast a favourable eye over 
the account). 

xii. He hath right to lodgings for himself, officers 
& servants in all y e K gs houses. Those in White- 
hall were, when the K. came in, rude, dark & 
intermixed with the Queene's servants. 

The present dining roome was a kind of wild barne, 
without any covering beside rafters and tiles. 
The Maisters lodgings were two ill chambers, 
above stayres, and the passage to them dark at 
noone day ; his dining room was below. Sir 
G. T. being desirous to improve his lodgings 
proposed to his Ma ty an exchange betwixt that 
wilde roome, and his dining-roome. The K. 
comanded the L d Chamberl : to view, and 
report w ch he accordingly did : and told his 
Ma ty that S r G s proposall was fayre ; and much 
to the advantage of the Queen's servants, 
whereupon leave was given him to build ; and 
when he had finished S r E d Wood came & 
claimed his former lodging as being y e Q s serv'. 

S r Gilb 1 told him he was y e K gs servant, and had 
built by his authority : and therefore presumed 
he had good title to y l apartment, and that the 
lower roome was his, if he pleased to like it, he 
replyed had he would try his power ; and went 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 245 

with a complaint ag st S r & to y e K g who made 
him answere that if he would not of the ground 
roome, he should have none. The angry K l 
finding the power of which he had boasted 
fayle him, sayd : he would then have none. 
The K g took him short at his word. And S r 
Will m Throgmorton y e K< Mareschall being by, 
begged y e chamber, and enjoyed it for a yeare. 
But y e nature of his place drawing greate con- 
course of people thether, S r G. thought it unsafe 
for y e plate, represented y e danger to his Ma ty 
who thereupon caused the K l Mareschall to be 
warned out. And least the chamber might draw 
ill company againe he begged it for his Officers, 
who have enjoyed it ever since. 

xiii. Vpon all removalls of y e houshold the Maister 
of the Jewell H. had ever a close waggon allowed 
him : for the transport of his servants and 
goods : and his officers had a waggon, and a cart 
for the plate. 

xiv. The M r of y e Jewell H. was ever esteemed the 
jst j£nt Bachelour of England and took place 
accordingly. 

He hath precedence of y e establishm 1 of the house- 
hold, before the Maist r of y e greate Wardrobe : 
and before y e Judges in all publeck processions 
being ever next to the privy Counsaillers. 

xv. They had the privilege to goe into the drawing 
roome to the privy chamber where none beside 



246 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

themselves, under the degree of Baron, were 
permitted to come, when y e gallery was kept 
private. 

xvi. At the Coronation they weare scarlet robes 
almost like y e Barons robes, and dine at the 
Baron's table in Westminster Hall. 

xvii. At the opening or concluding of a session of 
Parliament and at the passing of bills, when the 
K. appeareth in his robes the M r of the Jewell 
H. putteth the Crowne upon his Ma tyes head and 
taketh it off. And if he be absent or indisposed 
he deputeth a person of quality to doe it. And 
y e Maister alone hath right to kneele at the steps 
below the K gs feete (and y e black Rod at y e 
corner of the woolsack) although of late all y e 
officers of the privy chamber and Presence 
(& by theyre example strang rs who have noe 
relation to the Court) take up theyre places 
there, and possess it all before the Maist r (who 
attendeth upon y e Crowne) can come. 

xviii. He keepeth all y e Regalia (& the plate that is 
not used by the family) in the Tower and to that 
end had always convenient lodging for himself 
officers and servants therein. 

In the new lodgings given in lieu of y e old (because it 
was pretended y l y e chimneys might endanger 
the Magazin of powder which is lodged in the 
White Tower) there is not any appartement for 



SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 247 

the Maister upon complaint thereof made by 
S r G. T. to the K. the matter was by his Ma? 
referred to y e consideration of y e Ordinance 
board, how he might have his accommodation, 
and y e officers of the board made Order that 
there should be two new chambers built for him 
upon the left hand of the open stayres by the 
present Jewell house, which are of absolute 
necessity to his Ma* 765 service, because in case 
insurrection in the nation or tumult in the city 
it is fitt the Maist r should have his convenience 
to watch over so considerable a charge. 

xix. He hath a particular servant in the tower 
intrusted with y fc greate treasure to whom 
(because Sir G. T. was retrenched in all the 
perquisites and profitts of his place as is above 
specified) and not able to allow him a competent 
salary, his Ma ty doth tacitely allow that he shall 
shew the Regalia to strangers, which furnisheth 
him with soe plentifull a livelyhood, that Sir 
G T upon the death of his servant there, had 
an offer made him of 500 old broad pieces of 
gold for the place. 

Yet he first gave it freely to old Mr. Edwards (who 
had bin his father's servant) whom Blud mur- 
dered, when he attempted to steale the crowne, 
globe & scepter (as shall be related at large 
hereafter). 



248 THE JEWEL HOUSE 

After the death of the father he continued it to 
his sonne ; and after his death he gave it to 
Maj r Beckenham who maryed a daughter of old 
Edwards upon condition that he should main- 
taine old M rs Edwards and y e children which he 
hath well performed. 

xx. The Maister of the Jewell H. hath noe superiour 
Officer in Court over him. He receiveth noe 
command but from y e K g himself w ch is usually 
transmitted to him by warrant signed by the 
L d Chamberlaine or other Secretary of State 
signifying the K gs pleasure. 

And many times he received it by word of mouth 
from his Ma ty unless in case of greate importance 
wherein he usually desireth to have a warrant to 
be enterd for his iustification and indemnity. 

Yet sometimes the L d Treasurer or particular comiss 
appointed for that end inspect the state of the 
Jewell H. as they did an. 1673 and 79. 

xxi. The Maister of y e Jewell house fournisheth all 
the greate Officers of the household with plate ; 
and all Embassad rs that are sent abroad they 
giving indentures to restore the same, when 
called upon by him, and upon restauration he 
giveth back the indentures. 

xxii. It is incumbent upon y e Maist r to call upon all 
Embass rs for theyre plate at theyre returne home ; 
and upon the Executors of all greate officers who 






SIR GILBERT TALBOT'S MSS. 249 

dye w th plate in theyre possession : and to sue 
in y e Excheq r any that are indebted to y e 
Jewell house which debt cannot be privately 
compounded for by the Maist r , but must be 
satisfyed by award of Court : or cancelled by 
y e K gs pardon signified by privy Seale. 

xxiii. If a knight of y e Garter dye the Maister must 
send to his heyre or execut r for his Collar, 
George & Garter w ch his Ma 17 gave him at his 
installation : 

and likewise to all Serjeants for theyre Maces 
which are fournished out of the Jewell H. 

xxiv. All the retrenchments of the perquisites be- 
longing by Patent to S r G. T. amount to 1300^ 
per an : which in 20 years since his Ma ty came 
into England arise to 26000^. 

Besides 13000^ original debt for his xi yeares 
service under the last K g at Venice. Soe that if 
he had his right, there would be due to him 
3900o£ beside 26 or 27 yeares interest for the 
last sume of 1300^ expended in the Venetian 
service. 

S r G. Talbot Maister & Treasurer of the Jewell 

house. 
May y e 20 th an : dom : 1680. 



INDEX 



Abbot Wenlock, imprisonment of, 14 

Agincourt, 146, 147, 148 

Air Force, the, 216, 217 

Air raids on London, 26-29 

Alexandre de Pershore, monk who stole 

Crown Jewels, 14 
Alfred, King, crown of, 13 
Ammonites, crown of King of the, 12 
Ampulla, or Golden Eagle, 71-74, 82, 

101, 106 
Anne, Queen, 40, 197 
Anne Boleyn, 113, 114, 115, 116 
Ghost of, in Martin Tower, 21 
Letter from, 224-227 
Anointing Spoon, the, 73, 82, 106 
Anointing the King, ancient origin of, 82 
Armilla, or Stole, 84, 10 1 
Armoury, the, 19, 22 
Aurungzabe, Emperor, treasury of, 167 
"Auspicium Melioris," motto of Order 

of St. Michael, 206 

Battle of Agincourt, 146-147 

Battle of Najera, 145 

Beckham, Captain, 184, 186 

Biddulph, Lieut.-Gen. Sir Michael, 

Keeper of the Jewel House, 125,223 
Bishop Fisher, 115 
Bishop of Carlisle, 1 1 1 
Black Prince, 143, 144, 145, 146 
Black Prince's Ruby, 37, 38, 93, 105, 

144-151, 182, 183 
Blood, Colonel. See Colonel Blood 
Bloody Tower, 20, 21, 22, 24, 180, 184 
Boleyn, Anne. See Anne Boleyn 
Boleyn, George, Viscount Rochefort, 17,21 
" Bolleyn," inscribed on wall in Martin 

Tower, 17 
Bombs, dropped near Tower, 26-28 
Boscobel. Sec Oak of Boscobcl 
Bracelets, ancient insignia of Royalty, 55 
British Empire, expansion of, 1S9 
Broad Seal of England, 131 
Brudenell, Hon. James, Keeper of the 

Jewel House, 123, 222 

250 



Bulwark Gate, 185 

Burglars viewing the Crown Jewels, 25 
Burmah War of 1886-1887, 215 
Byward Tower, 185 

Cage in Jewel House, 21 

Campbell, John, Lord Glenorchie, Keeper 
of the Jewel House, 123, 222 

Cap of Maintenance, 36, 38, 39 

Cardinal York, 57 

Catherine the Great, 165 

Cavalieri, 205 

Chapel of the Pix, 13 

Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, 78, 176 

Charles I, 16, 62, 72, 118, 119, 120, 134, 
160, 171, 234 

Charles II, 17, 24, 37, 43, 48, 50, 54, 
55, 57, 63, 65, 68, 69, 72, 73, 75, 
76, 77, 93, 94, 95» io 4, 107, 118, 
119, 121, 132, 135, 160, 161, 174, 
177, 188, 189, 232 

Charles the Bold of Burgundy, 166 

Chitterne, Thomas, Keeper of the Jewel 
House, in, 221 

Chubb, Messrs., the mechanical safe- 
guards of, 25 

Colonel Blood, 19, 25, 103, 104, 105, 
122, 174-190 

Commonwealth, 13, 17, 35, 36, 47, 48, 

53, 6z , 74, 83 
Commonwealth, tragedy of, 91-108 
Companions of Honour, decoration, 215 
Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, 217 
Coronation, ceremony of the, described, 
80-90 [89-90 

Coronation ceremony of Queen Consort, 
Coronation Chair, S7 
Coronation of King George IV, Sir George 

Naylor's book, referred to, 140 
Coronation Proclamation, 67 
Coronation Ring, 55—57, 85 [38 

Coronation Ring of Edward the Confessor, 
Coronation Service, extract from, 87 
Coster, Messrs., and the Cullinan dia- 
mond, 59, 163 



INDEX 



251 



Crime of Colonel Blood. See Colonel 

Blood 
Crimean War, 211 

Cromwell, 171 [well 

Cromwell, Thomas. See Thomas Crom- 
I Cross of St. George, 56 

Crown of Alfred the Great, 94-98 

Crown of Queen Edith, 94, 98 

Crowns of England. See Royal Crowns 

of England 
Crown, ancient mark of sovereignty, 11,12 

King of the Ammonites', 12 

King Alfred's, 13, 94 

Queen Mary of Modena's, 39, 42 

Queen Mary's, 41 

Prince of Wales', 42 
Crown Jewels. See Regalia, the 
Crown Jewels of England, The, alluded to, 

97, 101 «. 
Crown Jewels of England, The, quotations 

from, 97-100 
Crown Jewels and the European War, 172 
Cullinan diamond. See Star of Africa 
Cullinan, Mr. T. M., 162 
" Curtana," or the Sword of Mercy, 54 

Daffodil of Wales, 43 
David, King, 12, 55 
Demidoff, Prince, 167 
Distinguished Conduct Medal, 217 
Distinguished Flying Cross, 2x7 
Distinguished Service Cross, 216 
Distinguished Service Medal, 217 
Distinguished Service Order, 214-215 
"Doing Something-or-other Order," 215 
Don Pedro, King of Castille, 144, 145 
Due d'Alenipon, 147 
Due d'Orleans, Regent of France, 168 
Duchess of Brunswick. See Princess 

Augusta 
Duke of Wellington, Constable of the 

Tower, 124 

Earl of Essex. See Thomas Cromwell 
East India Company, 155, 156 
Ecclesiastical Plate. See Plate, Eccle- 
siastical 
Eden, Hon. Emily, 155 
Edward I, 14 

Edward III, in, 144, 192 
Edward VII, 19, 25, 35, 43, 86, 107, 

125,161, 162, 163, 172, 199, 209 
Edward the Confessor, 13, 36, 57, no, 
159, 160 
Crown of, 228 
Sapphire of, 159 



Edward the Confessor's Staff and Corona- 
tion Ring, 13 
Edwards, Talbot. See Talbot Edwards 
Egbert, King, 12, 13 [171,173 

Elizabeth, Queen, 16, 103, 167, 170, 
Emperor of Russia, the late, 195 
English monarchy, oldest in Europe, 13 
English Royal Family, length of pedi- 
gree of, 13 
Enthronement. See Inthronisation 
Exchequer, penurious, of Charles II, 177 
Exeter, 103. See also Plate, Royal 

Field-Marshal Earl Haig, 197 

Fisher, Bishop, 115, 116 

Flete, John de, Keeper of the Jewel 

House, in, 221 
" For God and Empire," motto of Order 

of the British Empire, 210 
" For Merit," motto of Order of Merit, 

199-200 [213 

" For Valour," motto on Victoria Cross, 
Fouch6, 31 

Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales, 76 
French Crown Jewels, 168 

Garrard, Messrs., Court Jewellers, 39, 

4i>43> 8 7> 137, 150 
Garter, composition of the, 195 
Gawler, Colonel John Cox, Keeper of 

the Jewel House, 125, 223 
Gentlemen of the Blood, meaning of the 

phrase, 193 
George I, 68, 123 
George II, 123 
George III, 57, 76, 123, 161 
George IV, 52, 76, 161 
George V, 13, 37, 38, 81, 107, 172, 210 
German Emperor, the, 26, 194 
German lady, interesting story of, and 

Crown Jewels, 25 [of, 19, 20 

Ghost, Earl of Northumberland's, story 

Story of Queen Anne Boleyn's, 21 
Godfrey, Charles, Keeper of the Jewel 

House, 123, 222 
Golconda, King of, 151 
Gold maces, 68, 69 
Gough, General Sir Hugh, Keeper of the 

Jewel House, 125, 223 
Great Gems, romance of the. See 

Romance of the Great Gems 
Great Moghul diamond, the, 167 
Great Mogul, the, 151 
Great Tragedy, the, 91-108 
Great War, the, 13, 26, 33, 67, 172, 210, 

212, 213,215, 216, 219 



252 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 



Haig, Field-Marshal Earl, 197 

Hampton Court, 113 

Henrietta Maria, widow of Charles I, 167 

Henry III, 14, no 

Henry V, 146, 149 

Henry VII, 148 

Henry VIII, 54, 95, 112, 114, 116, 117, 

120, 224 
Henry IV of France, 166, 167 
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, 

18, 20 
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, 

father of above, 20 
Heriot the Astronomer, 18 
" Honi soit qui mal y pense," motto of 

the Order of the Garter, 192, 195 
Hope diamond, the, 168 
" Hotspur." See Henry Percy, Earl of 

Northumberland 
House of Commons, 68, 92, 93 
House of Lords, 42, 80, 92 
Hyde, Lord Chancellor, 132, 237 

" Imperatricis Auspicus," motto of Order 

of Indian Empire, 208 
Imperial Crown of India, 35, 38-39, 228 
Imperial Mantle or Pall of Cloth of Gold, 

84 
Imperial State Crown, 35, 228 
Imperial War Museum, 27 
Income taken from visitors to Jewel 

House, 90 
Inthronisation, the, 88 
Iron Gate, 185, 186 

James I, 16, 118, 171 

James II, 40, 57, 68, 73, 104, 105, 106, 

141, 160, 167 
Jewel House, the, n-33 e t seq 
Jewelled State Sword, 51-53, 84, 229 

Katherine, widow of Henry V, 148 

Katherine of Aragon, 114, 115 

Keeper of the Jewel House — [14 

Appointment of the first by Henry III, 

Christmas box of, 129 

Office suppressed in 1782, 124 

Office duties of, transferred to Lord 
Chamberlain, 124 

Office lays dormant for years, 124 

Office revived by Queen Victoria, 124 

Perquisites of, 127-135 

Robes worn by, 139 

Salaries of, 127-134 

Sergeant Painter seeks post of, 135, 
136 



Keeper of the Jewel House (cont,) — 
Sir Gilbert Talbot's account of the 
ancient rights and privileges of office, 

131-132 
Tips of, 130 
Keepers of the Jewel House, List of, 

Appendix A, 221-223 
Khojeh, Raphael, 165 
King Harold, 94 
King's Coronation Ring, presented by 

William IV to Princess Victoria, 56, 

229 
King's Orb, 47, 48, 49, 229 
King's Royal Sceptre, 43 
King's Sceptre with the Dove, 44, 45, 87 
King's State Crown, 36, 37, 38, 50, 57 
Knight Commander, 203, 204 
Knights of the Bath, 201, 202, 203 
Knights of the Garter, 194, 195, 196,198 
Koh-i-Nur diamond, the, 41, 151-159, 

168 
Model of, 58-59, 231 

Lady Jane Grey, 117 

Lawley, Sir Francis, Keeper of the Jewel 
House, 122, 222 

Lawrence, Sir John, and the Koh-i-Nur 
diamond, 156-157 

Lieutenants' Lodgings, 21 

List of the Regalia. See Regalia, com- 
plete list of the 

Long, Sir Robert, 236 

Lyttleton, Sir Richard, Keeper of the 
Jewel House, 123, 222 

Loftus, Captain Arthur John, Keeper of 
the Jewel House, 125,223 

Lord Auckland, 155 

Lord Chamberlain, duties of, 124 

Lord Gough, 155 

Lord Manchester, 134 

Lord Roberts, 213 

Louis XIV, 167 

Lowndes, Mrs., 131 «., 232 

Low, General Sir Robert, Keeper of the 
Jewel House, 125, 126, 223 

Lucknow, 26 

Mace-bearers, 69 

Maces, 229 

Macheson, Major, 157 

Maharajah Punjeet Singh, the Lion of 

the Punjab, 155 
Maharajah of Patiala, 167 
Mahomed Shah, 152, 153, 154 
Martin Tower, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 33, 

175, 176, 1S0, 183 



INDEX 



Mary of Modena, 39, 40, 42, 45, 46, 105, 

Mary, Queen, 41, 107 [106 

Master of King's Wardrobe, no 

Maundy Dish, 74, j6, 107, 231 

Maundy Money, 75, 107 

Maundy Thursday, 75, 107 

Merry England, 175 

Mezeray, 72 

Middle Tower, 16, 17, 185. See also 

Martin Tower 
Middleton, Lieut. -Gen. Sir Frederick, 

Keeper of the Jewel House, 125, 223 
Mildenhall, Robert de, Keeper of the 

Jewel House, in, 221 
Mildmay, Sir Henry, Keeper of the Jewel 

House, 118-121, 131, 134, 222, 

234, 236, 238, 240, 244 
Military Cross, 216 
Military Medal, 217 
Mint, bombs on, 173 
Mitcham, archaeological discovery at, 96 
Modern invention, a, 114 
More, Sir Thomas, 115, 116 
Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael, 

205-206 
Mountague, Heneage, Keeper of the 

Jewel House, 122-123, 222 
Mountain of Light. See Koh-i-Nur 

diamond 

Nadir Shah, King of Persia, 152, 153 

Napoleon, 203 

" Nemo me impure lacessit," motto of 

Order of the Thistle, 197 
Neville, William, Lord Abergavenny, 

Keeper of the Jewel House, 123, 222 
Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia, 166 
Northumberland's walk, 19. See also 

Ghost, Earl of Northumberland's 

Oak of Boscobel, 38 

Old Pretender, the, 161 

Orb, the, ancient Christian emblem, 47, 81 

Its use in Coronation ceremony, 84 
Orbs, description of, 47, 48 
Order of the Bath, 200-201 
Order of the British Empire, 210 
Orders of Chivalry, 191-219 
Order of the Crown of India, 210-21 1 
Order of the Garter, 56, 191- 194 
Order of the Golden Fleece, 201 [210 
Order of the Indian Empire, 206, 207, 
Order of Merit, 199 
Order of St. Patrick, 198-199 
Order of the Star of India, 207 
Order of the Thistle, 196, 197-198 



253 



Orloff diamond, the story of the, 165 
Owen Tudor, husband of Katherine 
Henry V's widow, 149 

Pall of Cloth of Gold. See Imperial 
Mantle [j8 3 , 187 

Parrett, confederate of Col. Blood, 150, 

Patiala, Maharajah of, 167 

Paulet, William, n 6-1 18 [170 

Pearl of Portugal, deterioration of, 169- 

Pearls, description of, 169-170 

Pitt, Mr., Governor of Madras, owner of 
Regent diamond, 168 

Plate, Ecclesiastical — 

Ampulla or Golden Eagle, 71, 230 

Anointing Spoon, the, 73-74,230 

Flagons, 77, 78 

Gold alms dish, 77, 78 

Gold baptismal font, 76, 230 

Maundy Dish, 74, 75, 76 

William and Mary's alms dish, 74, 230 

Charles II 's font, yj 

Plate, Royal- 
Exeter's and Plymouth's contribution 

to the, 63, 103 
King Charles' wine fountain, 230 
Queen Elizabeth's gold salt-cellar, 62, 
Renewal of, by Charles II, 17 [66 

St. George's Salts, 65-66 
State salt-cellar, 63-65, 230 
Twelve golden salt-spoons, 66, 230 
Two golden tankards, 67, 230 

Plymouth, 103, 104. See also Plate, Royal 

Polar Star diamond, Russian, 166 

Political agitation in India, 208 

Postern Row, 29 

Premier Mine, South Africa, 164 

Prince of Wales' Coronet, 42 

Prince of Wales' Crown, 42, 228 

Princess Augusta, 76 

Princess Victoria, 85 

Punjab, the, 155, 156 

Puritan, description of a, 93 

Queen Consorts, ceremony of the Corona- 
tion of, 89 

Queen Elizabeth's gold salt-cellar, 103 

Queen Elizabeth's pearl ear-rings, 37,38, 
170, 171, 172 

Queen Mary's Crown, description of the, 
41-48 [Modena 

Queen Mary of Modena. See Mary of 

Queen Victoria and the story of the 
Coronation Ring, 56, 86 

Queen Victoria's baptismal font, 76 

Queen's Coronation Ring, 229 



254 



Queen's Ivory Rod, description of, 46 
Queen's Orb, 47, 48, 49, 229 
Queen's Sceptre with the Cross, descrip- 
tion of, 45, 46 [of, 46 
Queen's Sceptre with the Dove,description 
"Quis separabit?" motto of Order of 

St. Patrick, 198, 199 

[Raleigh 
Raleigh, Sir Walter. See Sir Walter 
Regalia, the — 

Abbot and Monks of Westminster first 

guardians of, 13 
Abbot Wenlock's imprisonment for 

stealing, 14 [Jewels, 14 

Alexandre de Pershore steals Crown 
Ampulla, or Golden Eagle, 72, 73 
Anointing spoon, 73 
Baptismal font of Charles II, 76, JJ 
Bargaining with Crown Jewels, 93 [151 
Black Prince's Ruby, story of the, 144- 
Bogus jewel, a, 57-58 
Bracelets, 55 

Cage constructed to contain, 19 
Cap of Maintenance, 36, 38, 39 
Catalogue of Coronation robes destroyed, 

101 
Chapel of the Pix, Westminster Abbey, 

first Treasure House, 13 
Chubb, Messrs., construct mechanical 

safeguards for safety of, 25 
Colonel Blood and Crown Jewels, story 

of, 174-190 
Colonel Blood's attempt to steal Jewels 

draws attention to its insecurity, 19 
Commonwealth and, 91-108 
Complete list of Regalia, Appendix C, 

228-231 
Crown, Sceptre, and Orb re-made in 

Charles I's reign, 17 
Coronation rings, 55 
Coronation ring bequeathed to George 

III by Cardinal York, 57 
Coronation ring of Edward the Con- 
fessor, 57 
Coronation robes, 101 
Crown jewels destroyed by order of 

Cromwell's Parliament, 92 
Crown of Alfred the Great, melting 

down of, 94 
Cullinan diamond, model of, 59 
Cullinan diamond, story of the, 161- 

165 
Damage to, by Colonel Blood, 104, 105 
Ecclesiastical Plate, 71-79 
Edward the Confessor's Sapphire, story 

of, 159-160 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 



Regalia, the (cont.) — 

Exeter presents Charles II with State 
salt-cellar, 63 

Fire imperils the, 22 

Flagons, the, jy 

Gold maces, description and uses of, 68 

Gold tankards, 6j 

Golden alms dish, 78 

Golden Eagle. See Ampulla 

Golden Spurs, 54 5 sale of, 96 

Great Tragedy, the, 91-108 

Great Gems, romance of the, 143-173 

Ingenious stories re Crown Jewels dur- 
ing Great War, 30-32 

Inventory of portions of Regalia broken 
up and sold by order of Parliament, 

97, 99 
Jewelled State Sword, 52, 53 [223 

Keepers of Regalia, Appendix A, 221- 
King's Sceptre, great value of, 44 
Koh-i-Nur, model of, 58-59 
Koh-i-Nur, story of the, 151- 159 
Lodged in White Tower, 15 
Martin Tower, Treasure House, 17 
Maundy Dish, 74-76 
Mitcham, excavation at, 96 
" Mountain of Light, the," 59 
Official Keeper first appointed, 14 
Orbs, the, 47-49 
Plate, public offers to supplement 

destroyed emblems, 103-108 
Plymouth presents Charles II with 

wine fountain, 63 
Queen's Sceptre with the Dove, 46 
Queen's Orb originated by Mary of 

Orange, 48 [66 

Queen Elizabeth's gold salt-cellar, 62, 
Queen Elizabeth's gold ear-rings, 

stories of the, 167-173 [17 

Renewal of Plate in Charles I's reign, 
Renewal of destroyed emblems, 101- 

103 [Jewels, 14 

Richard de Podelicote buys Crown 
Royal Plate, 61-70 
Royal emblems taken to Westminster 

Abbey at Coronations, 80 
Royal Crowns, 34-43 
St. George's Salts, 65, 66 
St. George's Spurs. See Golden Spurs 
Sale of portions of the, 93, 95, 96 
Sceptres, the, 43-47 
Silver trumpets, 67 
Star of Africa, 37, 41, 43, 44, 59, 

161-16; 
Story of Coronation Ring and Queen 

Victoria, 85-88 



INDEX 



255 



Regalia, the (cont.) — 

Story of St. George's Salts, 65 
Strong cage constructed to contain, 19 
Stuart Sapphire, 1 60-1 61 
Sword of State, the, 53 [Mercy, 54 
Swords Spiritual, Temporal, and of 
Talbot Edwards sole guardian of, 18 
Transferred to Tower, 14 
Twelve gold salt-spoons, 66 
Wakefield Tower present abode of, 22 
I Regalia, complete list of the, 228-231 
Regent, or Pitt diamond, 168 
Relief of Chitral, 125 
Restoration, 62, 63, 74 
Richard III, 148 
Richard of Gloucester, 24 
Rod of Justice and Equity. See Sceptres 
Romance of the Great Gems, 143-173 
Rose of England, 43, 51 
Royal Assent, the, 68 [buting, 75 

Royal Bounty, ancient custom of distri- 
Royal Crowns of England, 35, 81, 228 
Royal Mint, bomb dropped on, 28 
Royal Plate. See Plate, Royal 
Royal Victorian Order, 209 [Ruby 

Ruby, Black Prince's. See Black Prince's 

St. Edward's Chair, 88 

St. Edward's Crown, 35, 87, 101, 105 

St. Edward's Staff, 47, 101, 105, 106 

St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, 195 

St. George's Salts, 65-66, 104 

St. George's Spurs, 54, 96, 106, 229 

St. John's Chapel, White Tower, 15, 24, 

202 
St. John the Evangelist, legend of, and 
the Coronation Ring of Edward the 
Confessor, 159 
St. Patrick's Jewels, theft of, 19, 25 
St. Paul's, 175 
St. Peter ad Vincula, 70 
St. Thomas' Tower, 29 
Salts of State. See Plate, Royal 
Samuel, the prophet, 12 
Sanci diamond, the story of, 166 
Saul, King, 12, 55 
Sceptres — 

James I's Sceptre with the Dove, 228 
King's Royal Sceptre with the Cross, 
43 [87, 228 

King's Sceptre with the Dove, 44, 45, 
Queen's Ivory Rod, 46 [228 

Queen's Sceptre with the Cross, 45, 81, 
Queen's Sceptre with the Dove, 46, 81, 
Rod of Justice and Equity, 47 [228 
St. Edward's Staff, 47, 228 



"Scotland for Ever," painting by Lady 

Butler, 125 
Sergeant Painter, 135, 243 
Sergeant, story of a courageous, 22 
Sergeants-at-arms, 62, 68, 69, 89 
Shah diamond, the, 165, 166 
Shah of Persia, 168 
Shamrock of Ireland, 51 
Sherlock Holmes, 31 [67 

Silver trumpets, used at Coronations, etc., 
Sinn Feiners, ic8 

Sir Edward Walker quoted, 101-102 
Sir Gilbert Talbot's MSS., 1 21-122, 

Appendix D, 232-249. See also 

Talbot, Sir Gilbert 
Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, 167 
Sir Robert Brackenbury, Constable of the 

Tower, 24 
Sir Thomas More. See More, Thomas 
Sir Robert Vyner, Court Jeweller, 48, 

54, 55, 72, 100, 106, 182 
Sir Walter Raleigh, never imprisoned in 

White Tower, 15 and n. 
Solomon, throne of, 12 
Somerset, the Lord Protector, 117 
South African War, 212 
Sporley, 94 [165 

Star of Africa, 37, 41, 43, 44, 59, 161- 
Stars of South Africa, 164-165 
Story relating to St. George's Salts, 65 
Strange appointment, a, 116 
Stuart sapphire, 37, 160-161 
Sword of Justice, 96 

Sword of Mercy, 96. See also "Curtana" 
Sword of State, 53, 82, 229 
Sword Spiritual, 54, 96, 229 
Sword Temporal, 54, 96, 229 

Talbot Edwards, Assistant Keeper of the 

Jewel House, 18, 175-184, 248 
Talbot, Sir Gilbert, Keeper of the Jewel 

House — 
And James II, 106 
Appeal to Charles on behalf of Talbot 

Edwards, 177 
Grievances and complaints of, 131-134 
His MSS., Appendix D, 232-249 
His suspicions of the sentry, 185 
In impoverished circumstances, 121 
Made Master and Treasurer of the 

Jewel House by James, 122 
Neglect of duty, 104 
Our debt to, 130 
Petitions Charles II, 132 
Preamble of, 1 31-132 
Resided chiefly at Whitehall, 18 



256 



THE JEWEL HOUSE 



Talent, equivalent of, 12 

Tavernier, French traveller, 151 

Thistle of Scotland, 51 

Thomas a Beckett, 1 1 1 

Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, 1 12, 
113, 114, 115, 194, 130,224 

Three Reproaches, the, 193 

Tower from Within, The, referred to, 
202 n. 

Tower of London — 
Air raids and, 26-29 
Anne Boleyn's imprisonment in, 17 
Armoury, the, 19, 22 
Bloody Tower, 20,21,22,24, 180, 184 
Bombs dropped near, 26-29 
Builder of, 159 
Bulwark Gate, 185 
Byward Tower, 185 
Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula, 176 
Colonel Blood's crime, 174-190 
Crown Jewels placed in Martin Tower 

by Charles II, 17 
Doubt about name of Martin in 

Martin Tower, 16, 17 
Executions at, 105, Il6 
German air-raids and the, 26 
German lady's visit to, during Great 

War, 25-26 
Ghosts in, 20, 21 
Henry Percy murdered in, 20 
Henry VI murdered in, 23, 24 
Heriot's imprisonment in, 18 
Hotspur's imprisonment in, 18, 20 
Iron Gate, 185, 186 
Jewel Houses of, 15, 1 6 
Lieutenants' Lodgings, 21 
Martin Tower, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 

33» *75» J 76, 180 
Middle Tower, 16, 17, 185 
Murder of Princes in, 24 
Northumberland's Walk, 19 
Once the residence of monarchs, 23 
Queen Elizabeth's imprisonment in, 23 
Special Jewel House built in 1597, 16 
Sir Robert Brackenbury, Constable of 

Tower, 24 
St. John's Chapel, 15 
St. Thomas' Tower, 29 
Sir Walter Raleigh's confinement in, 15 
Thomas Cromwell escorts Anne 

Boleyn to, 1 1 5 
Traitors' Gate, 22 



Tower of London (cont). — 
Visits to see Crown Jewels, 90 
Viscount Rochefort's imprisonment 

in, 17 
Wakefield Tower, 22, 23, 24, 33 
White Tower, 15, 24, 33, 63, 80 
Townshend, Charles, Lord Lynn, Keeper 

of the Jewel House, 123, 222 
Tragedy, the Great. See Great Tragedy 
Traitor's Gate, 22 
Treasure House of the King, 12 
Tsar of Russia, the late, 165 
Two young Princes, murder and burial 
of by Richard, 24 

Union of South Africa, 161, 162, 164 

Vane, Henry, Earl of Darlington,Keeper 

of the Jewel House, 123, 222 
Victoria, Queen, 56, 67, 76, jy y 85, 104, 

124, 125, 157, 15S, 161, 171, 205, 

206, 209, 211, 214 
Victoria Cross, 211-214 
Victoria Cross Warrant, quoted, 212 
Vyner, Sir Robert. See Sir Robert 

Vyner 

Wakefield, William de, 23 
Wakefield Tower, 22, 23, 24, 33 
Westminster Abbey, 13, 14, 33, 81, no, 

159 
Whitehall, 18, 244 
White Tower, 15, 24, 33, 63, 180 

St. John's Chapel in, 15, 24, 202 
William and Mary, 48, 6S, 74, 76, 78, 

106, 107 
William de Wakefield. See Wakefield 
William III, 48 [Tower 

William IV, 56, 85, 161 
William the Conqueror, 159, 172, 1 73 
Windsor Castle, 32, 33, 76 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 112, 113 
Wyndham, Lieut. -Col. Charles, Keeper 

of the Jewel House, 124, 223 
Wynne, Sir Arthur, Keeper of the Jewel 

House, 31, 126, 223 

Younghusbnnd, family of, 18 n. See also 
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland 
Younghusbaml, M ijor-Gen. Sir George, 
iz6, 223 



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